


Better Half of Me

by beammeup94



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Car Accidents, Childhood Friends, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Smut, a lot of mediocrely written angst, jongin is in a car accident, sehun is sensitive but within reason, things escalate fast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24819574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beammeup94/pseuds/beammeup94
Summary: After their break-up, Sehun expected that he’d never have to see or hear from Kim Jongin again, but when Kyungsoo called Sehun to go to the hospital late one Thursday night, he was unfortunately very wrong.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai & Oh Sehun, Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Comments: 32
Kudos: 201





	1. Why Try

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt: Jongin gets into a car accident and forgets a few things, including the fact that he and Sehun broke up a few months ago.

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The way Sehun remembers the start of _that_ Thursday was relatively normal. He woke up in a pretty good mood, which in itself was very surprising considering _everything_. But that ‘good mood’ was short-lived as he realized he was going to be late for work if he didn’t hurry. After he scrambled to put together a decent outfit he set off. 

Sehun worked as a data analyst at a telecommunication company. Although this wasn’t his dream job, it was what made money. And in life, money was all that mattered. That’s a fact that Sehun knew and believed in, at least before _everything_. 

The plan was to get some money from this job, maybe rise in the ranks and get a proper position in the company. And when the time was right, he would try his hand at what he was actually interested in, writing. But making big money as an author was a long shot, he knew that, which was why he had to settle for being a data analyst. 

_That_ Thursday was overall a good day, Chanyeol showed him funny videos, Baekhyun screamed his head off about something, Jongdae slept for most of it since his newborn had apparently kept him up all night, and Junmyeon, their supervisor, called in sick, which meant that the rest of the employees could chill out for most of the day. But Sehun was still able to get most of his work done despite the many distractions he had to sit through. 

The working day had ended and Sehun finally got home. Over the past months his lonely apartment had gotten a lot less unbearable, he realizes. He could for once stand the quiet and lifeless atmosphere in his apartment. Unlike the months after _everything_ , the silence wasn’t as deafening and Sehun didn’t feel as suffocated anymore. 

He was just about to sit down and continue binging _Cheers_ when his phone started ringing. He sighs as he was just getting comfortable on his couch. He reaches over and grabs his phone on the coffee table, ‘ _Kyungsoo_ ’, the caller ID said. 

He was confused, he hadn’t talked to Kyungsoo in a while, after _everything_. Even though they were close friends, Sehun didn’t have the heart to talk to him. He presses the red 'end call' button. 

  
  


He sets his phone down next to him, only for it to ring again. ' _Kyungsoo'_ it said. Sehun huffs, "What does he want?" he mumbles as he presses the green 'accept call' button

“Kyungsoo-Hyung? What’s up?”

**“Sehun, can you please come to the hospital?”**

“What? Why?”

**“Jongin got into a car accident,”**

Sehun was speechless, it’d been months since he last heard that name, and it still kills him to hear it again. The wounds were still healing, and now it felt like someone rubbed salt over them again. 

“Hyung—”

**“I know you guys broke up but it’s urgent, Sehun,”**

Sehun sighs, “Which hospital?”

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Sehun jabs his thumb into the up button on the elevator. He walks into the lobby and immediately sees Kyungsoo sitting on one of the couches. “Kyungsoo!” Sehun calls out as he jogs over to the elder. 

Kyungsoo looks up and stands up to meet Sehun halfway. “Thanks for coming,” he says, “Is he doing ok?” Sehun asks, after much inner debate. “Yeah, surgery finished up a few hours ago, and he’s in the recovery room now,” Kyungsoo says. 

“So, what’s so urgent?” Sehun asks, recalling what Kyungsoo had said on the phone. Kyungsoo merely looks at the younger man before he leads him to the elevators. He presses the floor number and the elevator doors close. 

“He has temporally graded retrograde amnesia,” he says, “Amnesia?” Sehun asks suddenly, feeling a wave of worry come over him. “He didn’t forget everything, just a period of time before the accident,” he says. 

“The doctor says he’ll regain them in time, but it’ll be a while,” Kyungsoo continues, “Ok, that’s good, but what am _I_ doing here, Hyung?” Sehun says. 

“Jongin asked for you,” Kyungsoo finally says, “What?” the younger man says incredulously. 

“Jongin wants to see you,” Kyungsoo says. “Bullshit,” Sehun says, still trying to wrap his head around the words that just came out of Kyungsoo’s mouth. “I’m not making this up, he said specifically to call for you,” the elder continues.

Again, Sehun’s wounds haven’t completely healed, coming to the hospital in itself was turning out to be a mistake. But after hearing that Jongin asked for him, Sehun had made up his mind, coming here was a complete mistake. For god’s sake, Jongin was the reason why they broke up in the first place, why the hell would he want Sehun to be there? 

The pair step out of the elevator. “Look, this isn’t gonna be easy. And I hate that I have to tell you this,” Kyungsoo says when they near Jongin’s room. Sehun turns to Kyungsoo, “Jongin doesn’t remember that you broke up,” he says.

“What?” 

“I told you earlier that he only forgot a chunk of his memories. And your break up was one of them,” 

“So he still thinks that we’re dating?”

“Yes, and—”

“So what the hell am I doing here?! Am I the one who has to tell him?”

“You can’t tell him,”

“Why the fuck not?! He was the one who broke it off! Why shouldn’t he know?”

“Because the doctor said not to overwhelm him right now. It’s better if he remembers on his own, so please just stay with him until he does,”

“And then what? When he remembers that he doesn’t love me anymore he’ll up and leave me again like last time? No! I’m not going through this shit again,”

“Sehun—”

“You know how much I had to go through, how shit my life felt after _everything_! I can’t go in there and pretend to love him again! I’m not even sure if he did love me in that way!”

“Now _that’s_ bullshit, you know Jongin loved you!”

“Then why the hell did he leave me?!” 

Sehun’s eyes were glistening with tears, “I can’t do this,” he mutters, “The break up was hard enough, Hyung,” his voice cracks.

“Look, Jongin’s your closest friend, before you two became a couple. You two would go through hell and back for each other, and you know that. If you wanted nothing to do with him then why’d you agree to come down here? Admit it, you still care about him. I know it’ll be painful and I’ll be there to help you, please just go in there and comfort him. He’s been frantic since he came out of surgery and it’s not good for his brain right now,”

Sehun looks at the elder man. Before he knew it, the tears kept on falling, “I don’t know if I can, Hyung,” he says, when a tear fell down his cheek, “I’m sorry to have to do this to you, but he needs you,” Kyungsoo says, wiping the tear with his finger.

Sehun knew deep down, that no matter what he said, he’d still stay and watch over Jongin. Despite all the heartache he had to endure, he’d still care about Jongin. After all, the other had been there ever since they were toddlers. They grew up together. After their first encounter at the playground, they were inseparable and it never changed. All throughout middle and high school they went through everything together. Even when they were accepted at the same university they were adamant about rooming together. It only took so many failed dates and relationships with other people for them to finally realize their feelings for each other. 

It was a blissful 4-year relationship. They went through finals and thesis deadlines together and their first jobs together. To both of them, it was the best thing that had ever happened to them. 

Until it wasn’t.

It takes Sehun a while before he musters up the courage to look at Kyungsoo again, “Alright,” he says softly. The elder smiles thankfully at him before he opens the door for Sehun. 

Sehun walks in and immediately stops in his tracks when his eyes land on the hospital bed. His eyes began to water once again. ‘ _You’re going to be the death of me, Kim Jongin,_ ’ Sehun thinks. He nears the bed and looks down at the sleeping man who once meant the entire world to him. 

The man who used to make him laugh at the stupidest things at the worst possible times. The man who made his heart pound so fast in his chest, you could almost hear the thumping. The man who he loved more than anything and who he held above everything else. The man who Sehun now knew as the man who broke him. 

“Should I wake him up for you?” Kyungsoo asks, “No, let him sleep, he must be exhausted,” Sehun says as the tears kept on coming. Kyungsoo walks over to Sehun and wraps his arms around him, “I know this is hard, but I told you, I’ll be here if you need me,” he says, patting Sehun’s back gently. 

“Thanks, Hyung,” Sehun says, “I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Kyungsoo says, “You can go home, Hyung. You must’ve had a long night, I can take it from here,” Sehun says. “I’ll just call in sick from work tomorrow,” Kyungsoo says and Sehun merely nods. “Hey, can you do me a favor?” Sehun asks before Kyungsoo stepped out.

“Anything,” he answers with an understanding smile, “Can you go to my apartment and get me some clothes for tomorrow? I have to go to work,” Sehun says, “Yeah sure,”. Kyungsoo hesitates to ask, “Is your passcode still—” 

“His birthday? Yeah,” Sehun tells him. Kyungsoo nods, “Alright, I’ll see you in the morning,” he says, closing the door softly. 

Sehun turns to the sleeping Jongin and sighs, pulling a chair and sitting beside Jongin. “You probably won’t even remember why you broke up with me,” Sehun starts.

“You’re so damn lucky,” Sehun continues, “You won’t remember any of it. That night, that argument, that stupid fucking argument,” he says, tears streaming down his face. “You’ll wake up and all you’re gonna know is that we’re still as happy as ever,” Sehun says bitterly. 

“And I’ll have to act as if you didn’t hurt me. As if I was still happy. You’re seriously one lucky bastard, Kim Jongin,”

“Lucky you,” he scoffs.

“When you wake up you’re gonna love me just as you did before,” he says. Through the tears, a soft smile makes its way onto his face, “I guess in that sense, I’m lucky too,” Sehun says, his voice cracking as more and more tears just keep falling.

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After Sehun’s spiel, he doesn’t bother talking anymore. He just sits quietly beside Jongin, never taking his eyes off of the other. Taking in the sight of Jongin with bandages on his face and a cast on his left ankle and his right arm. Unsurprisingly, he looked very pale. But what surprised Sehun was, he looked thinner, much thinner, than he’d seen him last. ‘ _Hasn’t he been eating well?_ ’ Sehun thinks when his eyes landed on Jongin’s cheeks, they weren’t as full as they used to be. His cheekbones and jawline were much more prominent now. 

‘ _What am I going to do with you, Jongin-ah?_ ’

He finished his 2nd cup of coffee that night, it was currently 1:20 am. Sehun leans back in his chair placing the now empty paper cup on the table. He stares back at the sleeping body in front of him, with tired eyes. 

He crosses his arms and stretches out his long legs. He nearly dozes off when Jongin starts stirring in his sleep. The other stretched out his arms and legs, while Sehun sat up in his chair in nervousness.

Jongin finally blinks his eyes open. He winces as he blinks a few more times to adjust to the bright lights of his hospital room. After a few minutes, he finally looks over at Sehun. Jongin smiles brightly as if he weren’t in a hospital, as if he hadn’t just gone through surgery and a car accident. 

“Hi Sehun-ie,” he says, his voice hoarse, with the same smile still on his face.

‘ _His smile’s still the same. It's still as bright and infectious’_ he thinks. Sehun swallows and fights the tears threatening to fall, “Hey,” he says softly, forcing a smile. 

Jongin smiles but is interrupted by a cough from a dry throat. Sehun promptly stands up and grabs a paper cup and pours water in it. He hands it to Jongin, who takes it graciously. 

“Thanks,” he says handing the cup back to Sehun. “How are you?” Sehun asks, partly asking about the injuries, but really he’s been very curious as to how Jongin was after the break-up. But now, he’ll never know. “A bit weak, but I’m ok,” he says. 

“Do you remember anything before the accident?” Sehun asks, “The last thing I can remember is us going grocery shopping together,” he says. 

Sehun remembers that day. They had a minor disagreement over which milk to buy, amongst other things. Sehun smiles at the memory, he’s thankful that Jongin’s last memory of him was a good one, unlike his last memory of the elder. 

“That was a pretty long time ago,” Sehun says, doing his best to hide his sadness. “Was it?” Jongin asks, chuckling, “It’s funny, it feels like yesterday,” he continues. “Yeah it does,” Sehun mumbles, “What was that, love?” Jongin asks, Sehun whips his head up as he feels the tears again, it’s been a while since he, let alone anyone, called him that, he sure does miss it. 

“I said it _is_ funny,” Sehun says with a forced smile, biting his lip. 

  
  


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The morning sun was rising. Jongin and Sehun had spent the rest of the night talking about what Sehun was up to and what Jongin may have missed. As it turns out, talking to his ex was a lot easier than Sehun had anticipated. They had no trouble falling back into their old ways of joking around and talking about seemingly anything. 

Since Kyungsoo did mention not to stress him out, Sehun does his best to skirt around the fact that they broke up and tries to dodge some questions that could lead him to somehow mention their split. Albeit this isn’t the best solution, it was the only thing he could think of to do that didn’t involve him lying his way out. 

“Kyungsoo’s gonna be here soon, so you take care, alright?,” Sehun says, “What? You’re not gonna stay?” Jongin asks, “I can’t, I’ve got work,” Sehun says, feeling slightly relieved that he’d finally have some time to fully process everything. 

Jongin bows his head in disappointment, “Will you be here later?” the elder asks, looking hopeful. “I-I’ll try J-jongin-ah,” Sehun says, having a hard time uttering the other's name. It had taken him months to stop thinking about this man, and now all his efforts have just come crashing down with one conversation with Jongin.

“Promise me!” Jongin pouts. Sehun takes one good look at Jongin's face and he knows that he could never say no to him. Even until now. ' _Some things don't change_ ' he thinks.

“I-I promise,” Sehun replies.

Sehun didn’t know what had gotten into him. Why was he setting himself up to disappointment? He knew that when Jongin started to regain his memories and realized that they weren’t together anymore, Sehun would have to go through all the things he had to endure after their break up. But seeing Jongin in this condition did things to Sehun, was it pity? Or something else? He knew he was partly over Jongin, at least in the relationship sense. 

Did he still love Jongin in that way? Or did he just miss talking to his best friend? All Sehun knew was, he shouldn't have promised Jongin anything. Let alone say that he was coming back at all, but again, he could never say no to Jongin. 

It's been the same since they were kids, Sehun followed Jongin's wishes from Halloween costumes to dating, he could never utter a 'no' to Jongin. Deep down, he knew that if he didn't grant Jongin's wishes, he'd lose him. And that was Sehun's worst nightmare. But, despite this, the other still left him. Maybe that was why the argument triggering their break-up ended so quickly because Sehun couldn't say no to the man. 

Later, Kyungsoo knocks on the door and hands Sehun a paper bag of his clothes and his bag. Sehun thanks him before changing in the bathroom.

Kyungsoo was out getting Jongin food when Sehun stepped out of the bathroom, “I should get going,” Sehun says to Jongin. 

The elder looks at the other sadly, “Ok,— wait! Don’t I get a goodbye kiss?” Jongin asks when Sehun almost grabbed the doorknob. 

Sehun purses his lips and walks over to the bed. He bends down and quickly leaves a kiss on Jongin’s forehead, “You missed by a lot,” Jongin teases when Sehun pulls away. “My lips are over here,” he jokes, pointing to his lips. 

Sehun looks at Jongin, “But your lip is all scratched up, it’ll hurt,” he says, “Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘a kiss makes the pain go away’?” Jongin says with a smirk. 

Sehun takes a deep breath to prepare himself. It’s been months since he last kissed the man, let alone seen him. And although he does miss the soft kisses they shared, he was also very hesitant at the moment. 

“C’mon, I won’t let you go until you do,” Jongin says. Sehun takes another deep breath before bending down further and pressing his soft lips against Jongin’s plump scratched ones. It was a chaste and soft kiss, really it was just their lips brushing against the other. 

“Really? That’s it?” Jongin quips, when Sehun pulls away. “Even that kiss didn’t make the pain go away yet, one more,” Jongin says leaning up. Sehun reluctantly complies and kisses the elder again, properly this time. 

It pained Sehun to look at Jongin after that. The way their lips moved against the other like a practiced dance they rehearsed for so long, made Sehun feel all sorts of things all at once. He was sad, angry, he felt a surge of nostalgia course through him, and finally, he felt very calm. Something about Jongin’s lips against his brought back a lot of memories, and he didn’t know why but it made him feel at ease. 

“That’s better,” Jongin says, with a smile. Kyungsoo finally opens the door with a tray of food in hand. 

But even if Sehun felt calm, he didn’t forget that all this is probably temporary until Jongin remembers everything. And that unsettled Sehun. The thought that Jongin could just get up and leave him again made him anxious and stressed him out. But of course, he couldn’t let Jongin see that he was. 

Sehun grabs his bag, quickly thanks Kyungsoo, then heads to the door. “Have a good day, love,” Jongin says, all chipper to Sehun. “Y-you too,” Sehun replies. 

“Love you,” Jongin says cheerfully, making Sehun stop dead in his tracks. Kyungsoo looks over at Sehun wide-eyed. Sehun turns to the elder, he forces a believable smile, “L-love you too,” Sehun says softly before opening the door and closing it behind him. 

Sehun leans against the wall next to the door and runs his fingers through his hair. ‘ _What the fuck did I get just myself into?_ ’ 


	2. Somebody You Loved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongin gets discharged from the hospital which means Sehun now has to bring him home.

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It’s been a little over a month since Jongin’s accident. And every day since then, Sehun has stayed by Jongin’s side. He visited Jongin every day at the hospital and even brought him clothes and food from time to time. On one occasion, Jongin told Sehun that he wanted to play a board game and Sehun even went over to all his friend’s houses to bring every game they collectively had. 

It had taken the younger some time to stop crying all the time, but now he’s all fine. He’s learned to control his tears around Jongin and successfully pull off believable facades so as to not stress Jongin. 

Today’s a Sunday, and Sehun just arrived at the hospital to take the elder home. The doctor says that Jongin healed surprisingly fast, he just needs to keep his casts on for a few more weeks, but other than that, he’s all good. Except, of course, he still doesn’t remember breaking up with Sehun. 

He started remembering a few things a week ago, but it was just insignificant things like going over to Sehun’s place to eat or meeting up with his parents. Nothing too worrying yet. But Sehun’s been on edge ever since Jongin regained his first memory. 

Jongin on the other hand has noticed that Sehun was being distant from him lately. Something was off about the younger and he doesn’t know why. Jongin wants to find out was wrong, but every time he asks Sehun anything the younger would merely say, “I’m fine,” when he’s so obviously not. 

_‘What happened to him?’_ Jongin thought, _‘Did I do something?’_ , ‘ _Why’s he being so distant?’_

On the car ride back to Jongin and Kyungsoo’s apartment, Jongin sat quietly in the front passenger seat just staring at Sehun, paying no attention to where they were going or anything else for that matter. When they arrive at Jongin’s apartment complex, Jongin whips his head to look outside the car window before turning to stare at Sehun disbelievingly. 

“Why’re we at Kyungsoo’s? Aren’t we going to your place?” he asks, innocently. Sehun turns his head at him, dumbfounded.

Sehun didn’t really want Jongin to go back to his apartment. Mainly because the place was only starting to feel normal again, but with Jongin’s presence there again, Sehun’s afraid that when Jongin remembers everything, his apartment won’t feel like a warm and welcoming home but an unbearable prison once again.

“Y-you want to go to my apartment?” he asks. 

“Weren’t we gonna go there anyway?” Jongin retorts. “Uhm— yeah, I just thought that we should drop off your things at your place,” Sehun says, “My place? But we live together, what are you talking about, love?” Jongin asks.

‘ _Oh, right. In his mind, we’re still living together. Shit,_ ’ Sehun thinks. 

“Right, sorry I forgot,” Sehun says exasperatedly as he shifts gears and starts driving. “You’re acting weird, love. Is everything ok?” Jongin asks, “Yeah, of course, why— why wouldn’t it be?” Sehun rambles, putting all of his attention on the road rather than Jongin. 

They get to Sehun’s apartment and the younger visibly hesitates to let Jongin back in the apartment they once shared. Sehun bends down and helps Jongin take his shoes off and runs to grab a pair of slippers. “What happened to my old slippers?” Jongin asks. “Oh, we bought new ones because— your old ones broke,” Sehun lies. “Oh, ok,” the elder replies, slipping his feet into the slippers. 

Jongin shuffles into the apartment and plops down onto the couch when he noticed a few things. “Sehun?” he calls out, “Yeah?” the other replies, “Where’d all the pillows on the couch go? And the plants by the windowsill aren’t there either,” he says. 

Sehun freezes in the hallway, which was luckily not in Jongin’s line of sight. “Uhm, the pillows and plants are— are at Baek’s and Chanyeol’s place, because they moved in together and they needed some pillows and we agreed to give them the plants as a house-warming present,” Sehun says, which weren’t complete lies, he did give them to the other couple, but it was because he couldn’t stand the sight of them anymore. The pillows and the plants were actually from Jongin when the elder first moved in. 

“Oh, well this place looks so lifeless now, we should go and buy at least one plant,” Jongin says. “Sure,” Sehun mumbles, loud enough for Jongin to hear. 

While Sehun was making dinner, Jongin wandered into the bedroom. The bed was neatly made, the bedside tables were covered in phone wires, tissues, lamps, and whatnot. But Jongin noticed their photos together had disappeared. He goes over to their small office space and realizes that the shelf that used to be covered in their memorabilia, was now empty and had accumulated a thick sheet of dust. 

He scrambles to the kitchen to ask Sehun about it. But upon seeing the younger preparing the food, he decides to ask him later. He instead comes up behind him and wraps his arms around Sehun. 

Sehun flinches when he feels Jongin’s arms around his torso. He does his best to play it off as him just being startled by Jongin’s presence, which it was, but it was also because he forgot how warm Jongin was. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss being held by Jongin. 

“What’re you making?” Jongin asks voice muffled in Sehun’s shoulder. “Just— just tomato sauce for the pasta,” Sehun says, after clearing his throat. “You need any help?” Jongin offers, “Can you set the table?” Sehun asks and Jongin merely nods before slipping his hands away from Sehun. 

Truthfully, Sehun didn’t want the other to let go, but he knew he couldn’t get used to Jongin’s warm presence. He had to be cautious unless he wanted to make the inevitable harder for him. 

As they ate, Jongin decided to ask Sehun about the missing pictures. 

“Uh— we decided to do a general cleaning a while ago, so I put them away before I wiped the shelf,” Sehun reasons, “Okay? Where are they?” Jongin asks. Sehun hesitates, “Under the bed,” Sehun mumbles, hoping Jongin couldn’t hear him. “What? Why’d you put them there?” he asks, putting his utensils down. 

“I— I just told you,— we decided to do a general cleaning of the whole apartment. I just put them there so that they wouldn’t get in the way,” Sehun lies. “Oh, then just wipe the shelf, and let’s go put them out again,” Jongin says, with an unsure smile before resuming his meal. “Anything you want,” Sehun utters. 

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The bed in Sehun’s room had a hollow base and had these lock mechanisms on either side that gave it the ability to lift up to reveal hidden storage space. That was where Sehun had stored most of the memorabilia he had from Jongin, as well as some of the things that he associated with Jongin just to help with the coping process. And for the most part, it had worked since the damn bed was a bitch to lift and put back down so whenever Sehun was particularly lonely during the months after their split, he wouldn’t resort to reminiscing and placing himself back at square one. But now all of his efforts to move on from the man who was currently hunched over to grab the box from the depths of the storage beneath the bed were going straight down the drain. 

When Jongin straightened back up with the box in his hands, Sehun couldn’t even bring himself to look at the other. As Jongin was placing the frames back in their place one by one, Sehun decided it best that he would just stay in the hallway, rather than partake in the heart-wrenching activity which was to put back their treasured memorabilia on display. 

Jongin notices Sehun standing in the hallway staring at the wall rather lifelessly, “Love?” he calls out, making Sehun snap out of it. 

No matter how many times Jongin called him that, it still made him feel a mixture of anxious and giddy. Anxious, because he was scared to lose the sensation he felt whenever Jongin called him ‘love’ and feel empty again when Jongin finally remembers everything. And giddy, because well, it had always made him feel giddy whenever Jongin used that pet-name. But now, he wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing anymore. 

“Y-yeah?” he asks, “You’re sure you’re ok?” Jongin questions. “Mhmm,” Sehun hums. He turns to go into the bedroom and sits himself down on the soft mattress, he buries his head in his hands and groans softly. “What the hell are you doing to yourself?” he mumbles. 

  
  


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The sun was setting on a particularly dull Sunday, which meant that Sehun had work the next day. For probably the first time in his life, Sehun was actually thankful that he had to go to work rather than stay at home. He luckily doesn’t have to be in such close proximity to Jongin, except for when he got home. But upon realizing that, another thought passed through Sehun’s mind, ‘ _Jongin’s gonna want to sleep next to me, won’t he?_ ’. And that sent Sehun on a total spiral for the rest of the night. 

After dinner, Sehun got even more nervous. _‘He’s gonna cuddle me, and everything’_ Sehun thinks. _‘Should I say that I’m gonna sleep on the couch? Or will he get suspicious? Screw it, just sleep next to him and stay well on your side of the bed! It’s that simple!’_

After their nightly rituals, the pair are ready for bed. Sehun promptly assists Jongin to the left side of the bed and helps him get situated. 

It was going to be weird for Sehun. That side of the bed hadn’t been slept in by anyone- not even Sehun- in a while. Sehun always made sure to leave the left side- Jongin’s side- of the bed empty. Even when he’s sleeping, he no longer faces the left. Was it because there wasn’t any warmth radiating from that side of the bed anymore? Highly likely, but Sehun always just said that he wasn’t comfortable in facing the left side. 

“You comfortable?” Sehun asks, reaching over to grab the blanket to cover Jongin. “The bed’s cold,” Jongin says, “Do you want me to get you a hot water bottle?” the younger offers, getting up. 

Jongin reaches over for Sehun’s wrist and gently tugs on it to pull him back down to sit next to him. Jongin just shakes his head. He raises his arms towards Sehun, donning a cute smile, “Can you cuddle me?” Jongin asks cheerfully. Sehun licked his lips in nervousness, “Yeah, sure,” he says. “I just have to go and turn the lights off outside,” Sehun says. 

He stands up before Jongin could say anything and leaves the bedroom. He takes a sharp breath, “You’re gonna be fine, it’s just sleeping,” Sehun mumbles to try and soothe himself. He goes and makes sure all the locks were locked and the switches were off before slowly walking back to the bedroom. 

_‘It’s not a big deal, I just have to sleep next to my ex who doesn’t remember that we aren’t together anymore. Yeah, not a big deal,’_ he thinks. 

He peeks to check on Jongin and sees him now sitting upright. He was waiting for Sehun. “Everything all good?” Jongin asks, “Yeah,” Sehun replies as he walks over to his side of the bed. He slips his slippers off before slowly crawling on the bed. He grabs the blanket, covers himself, and immediately faces the right side. 

A few seconds pass and Jongin’s tapping his shoulder. Sehun turns to look at Jongin, “Why’re you facing the other way?” Jongin asks, “Sehun, did I do something?” he continues. 

_‘Yes, yes you did do something’_ Sehun thinks, “No—”

“Then why are you acting weird?” Jongin asks, “I’ve been acting weird?” Sehun questions. “Ever since the car ride and even at the hospital,” the elder says, “Now tell me, what’s on your mind?” Jongin asks. “It’s nothing important, I swear, can we just go to sleep?” Sehun says, lying on his back. 

“Ok,” Jongin says in a voice softer than a whisper. He lies down to face Sehun. Upon noticing the considerable gap between them, Jongin scootched closer to Sehun and nuzzles his face into Sehun’s pillow. “Good night, love,” Jongin says leaning over to leave a soft peck on Sehun’s lips. 

Sehun, still frozen at the close contact between them, merely utters, “G’night,”. Jongin suddenly throws an arm over Sehun’s waist and shifts his head to rest in between Sehun’s shoulder and neck. Sehun feels Jongin inhale and exhale against his neck, causing shivers to run up his spine. 

Sehun was unsure whether or not to hug Jongin back in fear of the other feeling his heart palpitating like crazy. But when Jongin drew Sehun closer, the younger somehow grew a little bit more confident and turned his body to face Jongin. He wraps his arms around Jongin and he feels the elder smile and sighs into his neck. 

Sehun had missed this. Immensely. 

He missed how Jongin always had an arm and a leg on him. He missed falling asleep to the other’s breathing. He missed how Jongin’s warmth encapsulated him completely and made him feel calm and unexplainably happy. He missed feeling this way without having to try. 

More than anything, he missed the man who was currently drawing imaginary figures along the expanse of Sehun’s back. He missed everything about Jongin that made his life more worthwhile. 

Sehun just missed having Kim Jongin in his life. 

But Sehun knew that this was just the calm before the unavoidable storm. He had to prepare himself for the pain he knew he’d have to, unfortunately, go through again. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t hug Jongin and fall asleep to the elder’s breathing again. At least for now, he’ll take what he can get. For now, he’ll just wait, seeing as that’s all he can really do now, wait.

  
  


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Sehun’s alarm sounds off, promptly waking the pair. Jongin groans and rubs his eyes, “What time is it?” he asks groggily, squinting his eyes at the bright rays of the morning sun entering their bedroom window. “6,” Sehun mumbles, reaching over to press the ‘stop’ button on his phone as Jongin groans loader. 

“Do you have to go to work?” he asks, tightening his hold on Sehun. “I’m sorry, love, I have to,” Sehun says, his eyes widening as he freezes when the pet name fell from his lips. What surprised him more was, he wasn’t mad about it, not even in the slightest. It felt like second nature calling Jongin ‘love’ again. 

It felt good.

His inner spiel the night before really helped him. Instead of avoiding Jongin, he should enjoy the remaining time he and Jongin had left because when Jongin inevitably remembers everything, he’s going to be all alone just like last time. Might as well enjoy the time he has with Jongin before then. 

“Actually, I can just call in sick,” Sehun says, smiling down at Jongin whose head was resting on Sehun’s chest. This was probably the first genuine smile he had shown Jongin ever since that day at the hospital. And it felt nice to finally be happy again. Jongin looks up at Sehun excitedly, “Really?” he says, mirroring Sehun’s smile. The younger just nods and sighs contentedly as he runs his fingers through Jongin’s soft brown locks. 

Jongin leans up and presses his lips against Sehun’s jaw, “Thanks, Sehun-ie,” he says, smiling cutely. Sehun stares into Jongin’s eyes and finds himself getting lost in them just as he used to. “Wait here, I just have to call my office,” Sehun says, throwing the covers off him and relocating to a different room to call Junmyeon. 

**“Hello?”**

“Hey, Hyung,”

 **“Sehun? It’s 6 in the morning”** Junmyeon responds groggily,

“I know, I just wanted to tell you that I can’t come into work today,” 

**“What? Why?”**

“My uh— roommate’s injured so I have to stay home take care of him,”

**“Oh— ok, but Sehun, you do know you can just take a paid leave, it’s longer and you can still get paid.**

“Can I? But won’t you need me at the office?”

**“No, I think we’ll be fine without you for a few days. I’ll tell HR later, hope your roommate gets better,”**

“Thanks, Hyung,”

**“Anytime,”**

Sehun shuffles back to the bedroom to find Jongin cocooned in the blanket. Sehun smiles softly before walking over to his side of the bed and joining Jongin under the covers again. 

  
  


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The pair sat opposite each other as they conversed about anything under the sun. Sehun mentions that he took a paid leave off work. “So, I was thinking, since you aren’t going to work, can we go on a date today?” Jongin asks excitedly. Sehun lifts his head to look at Jongin, who was smiling at the younger so excitedly. Without needing to rethink it, Sehun already knew what his answer was going to be, “Yeah,” he says, shoving another spoonful of cereal in his mouth. 

Sehun was helping Jongin get dressed as they talked about where they should go. Their options currently were, the beach, or just to go for a drive. Sehun was leaning towards the beach, but Jongin also wanted to go for a long drive. 

“Ok, how about we go for a drive around first and then we can go to the beach to watch the sunset,” Sehun suggests. In the corner of his eye, Sehun could see Jongin agree with him as the elder slipped into his shirt that Kyungsoo was nice enough to slip in Sehun’s drawer whenever he went over to get Sehun’s things. 

They ride the elevator down to the parking lot and enter Sehun’s car. 

  
  


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They had driven a long way from the city to the beach. The drive consisted of a decently long talk about movies and other things. They laughed and reminisced about their time together, they even sang along to a playlist of nostalgic songs that Jongin was blasting from the car’s speakers. 

It took Sehun back to when they had a similar trip when they were still in high school. They were fresh graduates and before they set off for college, they wanted to take a trip together. Of course, this was before they found out that they were both accepted at the same university. But they both thought that it would be one of the last times they’d ever be able to do it, so for a whole month, they traveled. It was one of the best months Sehun had. That is until he dated Jongin, in which case, every month was his favorite just because the common theme in them was, it was full of Jongin. 

On the way there, they drove past a cliffside barred off with barriers so that, passing tourists wouldn’t fall over the steep edge. There, they parked and stared at the view after buying some food. 

They take their _McDonald’s_ takeout and sit on the hood of Sehun’s car. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get to the beach at this rate,” Jongin says, munching on fries. Sehun turns to look at Jongin, “It’s nearly 6, and we still have a bit to go,” Jongin points out. 

Sehun just stares at Jongin as the sun’s rays bounced off his soft dewy skin. He looked ethereal. His already mussed hair was tousled even more when Jongin combed his fingers through it. “I don’t mind,” Sehun says, his eyes never leaving Jongin. 

“But we won’t be able to see the sunset,” Jongin whines, “We can watch it from here,” Sehun says, still looking at the elder. “But you wanted to go,” Jongin sulks. Sehun hums before quickly packing up some of their trash and hopping off his car to throw them into a nearby trash can. He looks at Jongin, who was watching him, “Hurry, we can still make it” Sehun says smiling at the other as he held the car door open. The elder smiles brightly as he promptly hops off the car hood with their leftovers in his injured hand and enters the car. 

  
  


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They get to the beach in record time. Sehun was holding their blanket while Jongin had what was leftover from their food. The pair walk for a bit in comfortable silence before picking a decent spot to watch the sunset. 

Jongin sat cross-legged as Sehun sat beside him legs stretched as he was leaning on his arms. They sat in silence, the sound of the crashing waves and the distant sound of the music that was playing at the market place filling their ears. While Jongin stared at the sunset, Sehun continued to look at Jongin. He studied the way the setting sun’s rays hit his cheekbones and nose. He studied how Jongin had the habit of licking his lips and sticking out his tongue. At one point, Jongin just closed his eyes and sat there while Sehun studied- memorized- all of Jongin. As if he hadn’t already done that long ago. 

The image of Jongin was now permanently embedded in Sehun’s brain. But over the months that Sehun didn’t see Jongin, he started doubting his own memory of the elder. Now, Sehun was making mental notes of all the details of Jongin’s face. 

The younger couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Jongin, which was odd, considering for the majority of their time spent together, Sehun couldn’t bear to look at the elder. But now, he wished that this day would never end. He never wanted Jongin to leave. 

But at the back of Sehun’s mind, the same warning was sounding off in his brain, _‘when he remembers everything, he’ll just leave again,’_. But for now, just for now, he ignored that warning and took in everything that was Jongin. 

“Thank you for this, Sehun,” Jongin says, finally opening his eyes. “It was a great day,” Jongin continues, a faint smile gracing his face when he looks at the younger. 

Sehun, unknowingly, smiles back, “Anytime,” he says. After a beat, Jongin takes Sehun’s hand and interlaces their fingers, “Love you, Sehun-ie,” Jongin says. For the first time, Sehun doesn’t flinch, nor does he look at Jongin with a forced smile on his face, instead he smiles back genuinely and clasps his fingers over Jongin’s hand as his heart was beating against his chest, as it did then. “I love you too, Jongin,” Sehun says. 

Jongin leans in just enough for Sehun to lean in to meet the other’s lips halfway. They kiss languidly, but lovingly. And for Sehun, longingly. 

They pull apart, but at that point, the sun had completely set and the sky was dark. But they sit there, Jongin’s head resting atop Sehun’s broad shoulders, while the younger’s arm was wrapped around Jongin’s neck. 

_‘I still love him,’_ Sehun thinks. He smiles at the thought and leaves a soft kiss on the crown of Jongin’s head. _‘No matter how much he hurt me, as pathetic as it may seem, I still love this man. Even during those painful months, I loved him. And I think after he hurts me again, I’ll always love him. Even if I meet someone else, a part of me will have a lasting hole that only he can fill. Because out of all the people in the world, he’s the only one who can make this dull and plain world shine. And all because he’s iridescent. All because he’s Kim Jongin’_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's currently 1 am here in Manila and I am wide awake. I blame the cheesecake my mom made me finish because she wanted to wash the damn tupperware already, although it was delicious, my aunt made it (idk why this is important but I'm lonely and I have no one to talk to so,). 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter (that was a damn good segue). So far this fic's been relatively light, but the next chapter will hopefully be a bit more angsty (that is unless I write it shittily, which I seriously hope I won't). But I do have an ongoing debate in my head whether or not to have a sad ending or a happy one. Because currently, it's a tie between the two options. But we'll see how the writing goes for the next few chapters. 
> 
> Also just to clarify, this isn't going to be an extremely long fic, I just wanted to try my hand at chaptered stuff because I haven't written a chaptered fic in a while (and by a while I mean like 2014-2015 Wattpad, a while). Anyway hope you enjoyed and stay safe!


	3. Lay Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongin starts to remember _everything_

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Jongin remembered memories in a pretty scattered way. They didn’t come to him in order of when they occurred but just in random chunks. But he was still happy that he was able to remember them, he’d rather take some time to remember everything rather than never recall them again. 

Over the course of a few weeks, Jongin had begun to remember more and more things from visiting his parents’ house and walking his three dogs to hanging out at Kyungsoo’s apartment, a lot. It left Jongin perplexed as to why he spent so much time in Kyungsoo’s apartment but he didn’t pay much attention to it. On the whole, he was only remembering normal things, nothing too significant happening in any of the memories he was recalling. 

Jongin recalled the first significant memory when he was scrolling through _Instagram_ mindlessly one Tuesday afternoon, Sehun had gone back to work after their date-filled week and Jongin was sitting on the couch in Sehun’s apartment. 

_They were in the apartment, Sehun and Jongin were standing in front of each other in a heated argument._

_“What are you talking about?!” a clearly frustrated Sehun exclaims,_

_“Who is he, Sehun?!”_

_“I already told you! He’s just a coworker! Why are you being this way?!”_

Jongin’s phone drops onto his lap when he clutches the soft fabric of the couch tightly. His head was pounding. This always happened whenever he regained memories. It felt a lot like someone was pushing something into his brain using force, but it was particularly painful this time. 

_‘Did Sehun and I have an argument?’_ Jongin thinks as he plays the new memory in his head over and over again. _‘“Who is he?”, What was I talking about?’_ Jongin racks his brain to try and remember the rest but to no avail. 

Jongin waited for Sehun to get back from work as he continued to think about what, or more like who, that argument could’ve been about. 

It was nearly 8 in the evening when Jongin heard the door unlock. “I’m home!” Sehun announces. 

Their date to the beach was only the first of many, Sehun spent a whole week filled with fun dates and outings with Jongin. He took the elder to _Lotte World_ , Namsan Tower, they even went camping where Sehun rented an RV for 2 days and 1 night. In that week, Sehun had been a lot more relaxed around the elder. He no longer flinched or distanced himself from Jongin and was finally able to genuinely enjoy the time he and Jongin spent together. 

“Welcome home,” Jongin says cheerfully, “Anything interesting happened today?” Sehun asks, shuffling into the apartment. “Uhm, yeah, I uh— remembered another memory,” Jongin says, “Yeah? What was it about?” the younger asks just as cheerfully as he took the groceries out of his eco-bag. 

“Uhm— It was us fighting,” 

Sehun stills, he hesitates to look at Jongin, “What— what were we arguing about?” Sehun asks. “I can only remember me asking you “who is he?”,” Jongin says, helping Sehun out with the groceries. Sehun just remains mum as he does his best to focus on the task at hand but has a rather difficult time concentrating, especially because Jongin kept asking him if he knew what they were arguing about. 

“Do you know what that was about?” Jongin asks, “Uh— no weirdly, I don’t remember that argument,” Sehun lies. “So it probably wasn’t anything important,” Jongin says. Sehun laughs nervously, “Yeah,”. 

“Anyways, I was thinking we could just order in some food today,” Jongin suggests. “Sure, I just have to use the bathroom really quick,” the younger man says, briskly walking to the bathroom. 

He locks the door behind him and stares at himself in the mirror. _‘He’s starting to remember,’_ Sehun thinks and before long the tear begins streaming down his face once again. 

From that day on, the memories had kept coming to Jongin. He began to remember the rest of the fight but not enough that he knew what they were arguing about in the first place. He remembered another memory practically every day now.

The most significant memory Jongin regained was about him finding some guy named Johnny on Sehun’s phone. Jongin assumed that the fight was caused because of it. _‘Was Sehun cheating on me?’_. 

Why this was the first thought that entered Jongin’s mind he didn’t know, but it was just a hunch. And a strong hunch at that. 

  
  


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Jongin had gotten curious about this ‘Johnny’ character and decided to look into this guy. 

He tried asking Kyungsoo but the elder had just waved the question off and promptly changed the subject. He toyed with the idea of asking Sehun, but seeing as how their _other_ argument was started because of it, he decided against it. But one day an opportunity presented itself to Jongin. 

Sehun was cooking lunch on a normal Sunday and Jongin was in the bedroom, reading a book as he waited for Sehun to finish cooking. Before long, Sehun’s phone, which was on the nightstand, had started pinging and vibrating with message notifications. Jongin pushed the urge to go and look at the sender to the back of his mind. ‘ _No, I don’t want to be that boyfriend who doesn’t trust his partner. I trust Sehun,’_ Jongin thinks. 

But the messages just kept on coming. The constant pinging and the sound of the phone vibrating against the table finally pushed Jongin over the edge. It takes one more ping from his phone to make Jongin slam his book shut and reach over to grab Sehun’s phone. _‘It’s not like he’ll mind. He doesn’t care if I play with his phone, I let him play with mine anyway. For god’s sake, his passcode’s my birthday,’_ Jongin reasons.

**_New messages from Johnny_** it read. Jongin bit his lip in hesitation. He inputted Sehun’s passcode. _‘This is wrong,’_ Jongin thinks but proceeds to open the messaging app. 

**Johnny**

**[August 13, 2019; 6:47 pm]**

**Hyung**

**Thanks for not going too hard on me yesterday,**

**I had a good time.**

**You weren’t bad for your first time,**

**ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ**

  
  


Jongin reads the text with furrowed eyebrows, _‘good time?’._ He continues to scroll down to read the most recent texts, skimming through the ones that didn’t seem all that interesting. 

**Johnny**

**[October 12, 2019; 2:12 pm]**

**Thanks for taking good care of him Hyung**

**I hope he wasn’t too much trouble**

**He was just fine**   
  


**A bit needy, but ok**

**[October 30, 2019; 3:40 pm]**

**If you need to you can just leave him there, he’ll be fine**

  
  


Jongin continued to scroll down. _‘Leave him there? Was he talking about me?’_

_'I'm needy?'_

  
  


**[March 8, 2020; 12:23 pm]**

**My parents are really thankful that I met you,**

**They say you should come over for dinner soon,**

**They say they’re thankful that you’re taking good care of their son, ㅋㅋㅋㅋ**

**Also, glad to know you’re alright,**

**Hope he isn’t giving you any problems like he used to**

**You were always so annoyed with him before**

**Glad to know you guys are on good terms now**

**Anyway, I’m rambling again,**

**Thanks again hyung,**

**Love you ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ**

  
  


Jongin didn’t know what to make of it. _‘Sehun’s cheating on me?’_ Jongin thinks. Anger boils, ‘ _I give him problems? I annoy him? They say I love you?’_

Jongin snaps out of his thoughts when Sehun calls out for him from the dining room. Jongin places Sehun’s phone back on the nightstand as he felt tears threaten to run down his cheeks. One tear did fall but he quickly wiped it off in anger and anguish. Jongin wasn’t sure what he wanted to do first, sob or scream his lungs out. 

“Jongin?” Sehun calls out, “Everything ok?” he continues. “Yeah,” Jongin lies, “I just need to finish this chapter,” he says. 

Before long, Jongin was sobbing silently in their bedroom. 

_‘How could he do this to me?’_ he thinks. 

_‘Did he only spend that week with me because he pitied me?’_

_‘Is that why he was acting weird before? Because he knew that I had confronted him about this already?’_

Jongin went on a complete spiral but was cut off when Sehun knocked on the door to the bedroom. “Jongin? The food’s getting cold,” Sehun says. Jongin stands up, “I’ll be right out,” he says doing his best to control his voice from cracking. 

He pulls himself together and sits down in front of Sehun and grabs himself a serving of the meal Sehun made. He forces a smile on his face so Sehun wouldn’t be suspicious.

He tries to be nonchalant and pushes the whole situation to the back of his mind and tries to focus on something Sehun was saying something about his coworker, but Jongin didn’t pay much attention to it because the Johnny situation took over his thoughts. 

  
  


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It’s been roughly a week since Jongin first read the texts and although this Johnny person didn’t explicitly say anything remotely sexual, Jongin was convinced that it could be the only explanation. Because why else would this guy be texting him ‘I love you’s’ or being that informal with Sehun if they weren’t fucking. 

Jongin had just finished reading through a new batch of texts Johnny had sent to Sehun. And the last message was what set him off.

**Johnny**

**[May 18, 2020; 3:57 pm]**

**You can come over any time, just leave him there**

**He’s a big boy**

**He can handle himself.**

  
  


Jongin had had it. He needed to confront Sehun. It was currently 6 pm and Sehun was in the shower. Jongin clutched Sehun’s phone against his chest as he sat quietly on the couch. He waited for Sehun to emerge from the steamy bathroom. The younger steps out of the bathroom with sweats, his hair still wet, and the towel hangs around his neck. He takes one glance at Jongin and dons a polite smile on his face. Jongin wasn’t sure if Sehun noticed the elder holding his phone, but if he did, he didn’t acknowledge it. 

Jongin waits until the other put a shirt on in a different room. “Love, have you seen my phone?” Sehun asks as he walks back out to the living room. Only this time, fully dressed and his hair a lot less wet. He held the towel in one hand as he gently rubbed it against his hair. Jongin remains quiet as Sehun begins to look for his phone, still not noticing that Jongin had it in his hands. 

After some time, the younger finally looks at Jongin and sees his phone. “Why do you have my phone?” Sehun asks, out of curiosity. But Jongin didn’t respond. 

_‘Is he mad at me?_ ’ Sehun thinks. “Are you ok?” Sehun asks the elder, and the latter merely turns his head to face the window. 

“Jongin, are you ok?” Sehun asks again.

“Who’s Johnny?” Jongin asks, still staring out of the window.

Sehun looks at the elder, _‘Oh no, no, no, no, no, this can’t be happening now. Not again,’_ he thinks. 

“He’s my coworker and he’s a friend,” Sehun replies. “ _Just_ a friend?” Jongin asks. “Yes,” Sehun says firmly. 

Jongin looks up at Sehun, his eyebrows scrunched in anger. “You’re lying,” Jongin whispers. “What?”

“You’re fucking lying, Sehun,” Jongin spits, standing up to be on Sehun’s eye level. 

“What are you even talking about?” 

“Who is Johnny?!”

“I already told you! He’s a friend!”

“Bullshit! Just fucking admit it, Sehun!”

“What the hell are you talking about? Admit what?”

“That you’re cheating on me!”

_‘And here we go again,’_ Sehun thinks sadly. 

“How could you think that?” Sehun asks lowly. 

This was how _that_ fight began. 

  
  


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Months ago, when Jongin and Sehun were actually still dating, Jongin had gone through the same thing he did now. He found some suggestive texts on Sehun’s phone from a guy named Johnny. And due to Jongin’s lack of any other evidence, his mind immediately came to believe that Sehun was in fact cheating on him. 

Because in Jongin’s mind, what else could it have been? The man had always come home late recently and he hardly ever saw him in the morning. Sehun was also acting distant with him. The younger always found ways to avoid Jongin and somehow, they always worked. 

Jongin’s suspicions only kept growing from there. 

The tip-off point was when he actually saw the two men on what seemed like a date at a cafe near Sehun’s office. Jongin tried to think of excuses for the younger, maybe he just wanted someone to eat with or maybe they’re talking about work and they were with other people. But Jongin stood there staring at the two men from across the street and it was evident that it was just the two of them. And they seemed a bit too close for Jongin’s liking.

After they finished their meals, they headed out together. And Jongin could’ve sworn they linked arms when they turned the corner. And as irrational as it may seem, Jongin has never been more sure. Because anyone who knew Sehun would know that the man is not a very clingy person. He wasn’t a big fan of skinship on all accounts. He preferred to keep his distance with people and was very particular about his personal space. The exception to this was, of course, Jongin. But as it seems, not anymore. 

So when Sehun got home, they got into a screaming match, similar to the one they’re in the middle of right now. And as you can imagine, it didn’t end well. Jongin stormed out and Sehun didn’t run after him. The elder just took it as a sign that Sehun didn’t want him anymore. He stayed over at Kyungsoo’s and never saw Sehun again. He cut off all contact with the younger and refused to even utter his name. 

  
  


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Now back to the present day, the argument was repeating itself. And Sehun couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“I saw the damn texts, Sehun!” Jongin exclaims shoving the younger’s phone into Sehun’s chest. “After everything we’ve been through! You could’ve just told me you didn’t want to be with me anymore!”

Unlike their other argument, Sehun didn’t bother to raise his voice anymore. He wasn’t even angry in the slightest, just sad. Sad that it had to happen the exact same way it did. 

“I wasn’t cheating on you, Jongin,” Sehun says gently,

“Then what the hell were you doing?!” 

“I was helping a coworker,” 

“Likely story,” Jongin mumbles. 

The one-sided fight went on for hours. It was now 10 pm, and Jongin had rambled on about how he always felt that he was the only one who put effort into their relationship, that Sehun never really cared about him. Sehun still remained quiet, deciding to let the elder continue his rant. 

“Are you done?” Sehun asks when Jongin finally quiets down. Tears were streaming down both their faces. Jongin angrily wipes his tears and looks Sehun in the eyes, “Just about,” the elder whispers. 

Sehun merely nods and turns his head to look somewhere else. It’s quiet for a few seconds, “Well? Aren’t you gonna say anything?” Jongin scoffs. Sehun glances at Jongin. 

Sehun’s been quiet until this point because he knows that if he opens his mouth, everything that was built up inside of him would just burst. He would let the whole thing slip. The break-up, how _everything_ ended, and all his pent up frustrations after their break-up, would come crashing down on Jongin in one breath. And Sehun knew full well that if he does say something, it will hurt Jongin. And that’s the last thing Sehun wants.

Sehun was, to put it lightly, blunt. Whenever he and Jongin had an argument, his sharp tongue would always hurt the elder. He wasn’t proud of it, but he was trying to refrain from having that happen. In the _other_ argument, Sehun didn’t hold his tongue and ended up saying more than a few hurtful things to Jongin that he didn’t mean, it was just in the heat of the moment, but to Jongin it seemed like he meant them. So he was being cautious now that he was given another chance to get through this argument. 

His plan was to just let Jongin go off, and after he lets the elder cool down, then he’ll explain everything calmly. However, Jongin being his oldest friend, knew exactly which buttons to push to get a reaction out of the younger. And he was pushing all the right ones. Sehun was holding himself back from bursting, but it was getting harder and harder the more Jongin kept talking. He knew that it would be better if he had waited for Jongin to say his piece and then come in and explain after rather than yell at the elder. 

That was until Jongin said, “Why am I not surprised? It’s typical of you to just sit there and not bother, isn’t it? I should be used to your resting bitch face and your lack of any sort of care by now. It makes me wonder why I ever had feelings for you when it’s so obvious that you wouldn’t feel the same way. Why did you agree to date me back then? Huh? Did you pity me?! Was that it?! Because I am sure as fuck that it wasn’t because you felt the same way—” 

Sehun looks up at Jongin, jaw clenched in anger. Jongin had struck a nerve he knew it. “You know what?! Fuck it!!” Sehun stands up suddenly, startling the elder. 

Jongin knew that Sehun was sensitive when it came to Jongin doubting his intentions with him, and Jongin knew full well how to use it to his advantage in arguments. 

Jongin stares at Sehun disbelievingly. “What?! Isn’t this what you wanted?! You wanted me to talk right?! So here it is, Jongin! Here I’m talking! Are you happy now?!” 

“Answer me, damn it! Are you happy now?!” Sehun shouts. “S-sehun,” Jongin says, as he backs into the wall. 

“What?!”

“Stop it, please,” Jongin’s voice was barely audible at this point,

“No, I won’t! This was what you wanted right?! For me to show you that I actually cared,” Sehun says, his voice only getting louder and harsher by the minute. 

There’s a belief that the nicest people are the scariest when they’re angry. 

Sehun definitely lived up to this. When people first meet the man. Him getting angry is the furthest thought in your mind. He’s this shy, mischievous, and gentle thing, you could never imagine him being angry or sad. But on the rare occasion that he did show these emotions, he was a sight to behold. When he was sad, he was like a puppy. You’d want nothing else but to swaddle him up and protect him at all costs. But when he gets angry which is an even rarer emotion for Sehun, he becomes this towering terror who could bring a person to tears just by staring at them, which has happened on one occasion. 

Sehun backs away from Jongin, “For fuck’s sake, Jongin. Of course, I care about you! And I’m so fucking sorry that you had to be stuck with some asshole who couldn’t even show you that he did for 4 years! I’m sorry that I made you think that I could cheat on you! I’m sorry that I made you think that I could ever love anyone else apart from you!” Sehun was completely vulnerable now. To this day, Jongin was the only person on Earth to see Sehun at this point of vulnerability. 

“Sehun—”

“No! Don’t you go feeling guilty! You know why?! Because it’s all my fucking fault! All mine! I was the reason you felt this way! I was the reason why you started doubting our relationship in the first place! ” Sehun breathes heavily, 

“I’m the fucking reason why you broke me into so many pieces I can’t even put myself back together because you took so damn much of me with you!I can’t blame anyone else but me! It’s all my fucking fault you left! I—”

Sehun stops suddenly upon realizing what he had just said. He hoped Jongin didn’t notice. Unfortunately, the elder did. 

“What?” Jongin whispers. 

Sehun stares at the elder in deep regret. 

“Sehun, what do you mean I left?” he continues

“I didn’t—”

“Don’t lie to me, Sehun,”

Sehun exhales a long and tired breath. “Sehun,” Jongin says as he wipes the tears streaming down his face. “What are you talking about?” he asks. 

“I can’t tell you,” Sehun whispers. “Why the hell not?” Jongin exclaims disbelievingly. “Because you have to remember it on your own,” the younger one says lowly. “Can’t you just tell me?” Jongin asks, clearly frustrated. Sehun merely shook his head in response. 

The two sit in silence for a good 5 minutes after Jongin asked Sehun questions that the younger refused to answer. Jongin opens his mouth to ask another question, “I need some air,” Sehun says standing up. 

Jongin looks at the younger in both guilt and sadness. He stands up to follow the younger to the door, but he stopped a good 3 strides away from the door. Jongin stares at Sehun’s back as the younger yanks the door open and stops. His head hung low. 

“I could never love anyone else, Jongin,” he says not bothering to face the elder.

“I don’t think I ever will, at least, not as much as I loved— love you. I don’t even think it’s physically possible that I’ll ever stop loving you, “ he continues. 

“And I know that seems so pathetic, but I just can’t bring myself to get over you. I probably sound so stupid right now considering after so many months, I blamed you for causing me so much heartache and so many sleepless nights I can barely count. But now I—” he inhales. 

“Now I know. It’s all my damn fault that you thought the way you did and I’m the reason why you left. I have no one else to blame but myself. And I’m so sorry. For everything. I should’ve done better. No— You _deserve_ so much better, Jongin. So if by some miracle, you remember everything,”

Sehun pauses and looks back at the elder, “Then I guess this is goodbye for good, Kim Jongin,”

“Sehun—”

“Don’t go after me, it’ll just make it harder for both of us,” Sehun says finally before letting the door slam behind him. 

Jongin stands frozen in the same spot. He wasn’t sure if he didn’t want to move or just couldn’t. But he didn’t budge. And as he stood there silently while the tears kept streaming down his face, for some reason, one memory stood out to him. 

  
  


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There was one time in college when Jongin was worried that Sehun was getting bored of him. Because on-campus, Sehun was known to be some form of a playboy. He would have a different partner in bed almost every day and Jongin being his best friend and roommate at the time, could vouch for that claim. 

That was until he and Jongin started dating, Sehun didn’t show any signs of regret or that he missed his old lifestyle, but Jongin was still cautious with the younger since it was still the early days of their relationship. 

But one day he came back to their dorm an hour later than usual and he was immediately greeted by a pink mop of hair in his face. “Where have you been?” Sehun asks, nuzzling his face into Jongin’s neck. “I just had to submit a few things,” Jongin replies, wrapping his arms around the younger. “Why? Did something happen?” Jongin asks. Sehun answers, but it was so inaudible that even though Jongin’s ear was literally right next to the younger’s lips, he could not understand what he said. “What?” Jongin says. “I missed you,” Sehun says slightly louder now. 

Jongin pulls away, smiling playfully at the other. “What?” Jongin teases. Sehun immediately groans and drops his hands from Jongin’s sides. “I didn’t catch that,” Jongin teases further while Sehun was now covering his reddening face. “Sehunnie” Jongin says, “What did you—” 

Before Jongin could finish his question, Sehun planted his lips on Jongin’s to effectively shut him up. Their lips mold together and Jongin smiles into their soft kiss.

The younger pulls away and looks at Jongin with a soft smile, “I missed you,” Sehun repeats. Causing Jongin to smile back at the younger, “I missed you, too,”. They waste no time in reconnecting their lips in a blissful kiss. 

  
  


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Jongin sat alone in their quiet apartment replaying the memory in his head. Even then, Sehun had already proven that he chose Jongin over all the others. That there was no one he’d want to be with apart from Jongin. 

When the realization finally settled in, Jongin just felt utterly stupid. _‘I gotta call him’_ he thinks. He runs to get his phone and calls Sehun. He impatiently tapped his foot as he waited for Sehun to answer his phone. But was promptly let down when he heard Sehun’s ringtone permeate the silent apartment. He grabs the ringing phone and ends the call with Sehun’s phone. 

Jongin slumps down onto the couch and buries his head into his hands. 

And then it happens.

A piercing pain shoots through Jongin’s head. It was worse. Much worse than the pounding feeling he felt before. 

And suddenly, as if it had just happened, he remembers _everything_ . The break-up, the argument, _everything_. 

Before long, he was crying— sobbing. The tears never stopped coming, he couldn’t control it. _‘I left Sehun. And I hurt him, even more, when he had to pretend like nothing was wrong’._

_‘How could I doubt him? How could I treat him this way?’_

  
  


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Jongin sits crying on the couch until he decides to call someone. 

He brings the ringing phone up to his ear as he waits for the other person to pick up. 

**“Hello? Jongin?” Kyungsoo answers**

“Hyung— can you come over?”

There’s a silence on the other end. 

**“Did— did you…”**

“Yeah,”

**“Where’s Sehun?”**

“Can you please just come over?”

**“Alright, give me 20 minutes,”**

Jongin opens the door for Kyungsoo who immediately wrapped the younger in a hug. “I feel really bad, Hyung,” he mumbles. Kyungsoo guides the younger to the living area and tries to calm the sobbing man. 

Kyungsoo quickly whips up some food for them as he knew that Jongin needed some comfort food right now. As they ate, Jongin recounted the events that happened before while Kyungsoo sat in front of him and watched him eat. 

“And now I don’t know where he is,” Jongin finishes and Kyungsoo just stares at the younger. “There’s something I think you should know,” Kyungsoo says, playing with his glass. Jongin looks at the elder in confusion. 

“I should’ve told you this before, but Sehun told me not to, so I followed him, but now you need to know,” Kyungsoo says. 

“Jongin, do you know why Sehun was being distant back then?” he asks. Jongin shook his head. 

“I’m not sure if you already remembered this but, after you broke up, you told me to go and get your stuff from Sehun’s and I did. When I got back I told you the place was empty,” 

“Ok?”

“But it wasn’t. He was here and he looked exactly like you do right now,” 

Jongin looked at Kyungsoo as he played with the hem of his shirt. As if he was saying “Go on”.

  
  


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Kyungsoo unlocked the door to Sehun’s apartment. Jongin had come running to him after the couple’s big fight, and Kyungsoo being the angel that he is, took Jongin in. The younger had asked Kyungsoo to get his stuff from Sehun’s place because, in his words, he didn’t want to see Sehun again. 

Kyungsoo was expecting the place to be empty seeing as it was a Thursday and Sehun had to work. But he was surprised to see a figure sitting on the couch staring right back at him equally as startled as Kyungsoo. 

Sehun had dark circles under his eyes and clearly needed rest. 

“I thought you were Jongin,” Sehun says sadly, his head bowing down as the blanket that was resting on his broad shoulders began to slip down to his hips. 

“I just came over to get his stuff,” Kyungsoo says sadly. Immediately regretting it when Sehun begins to cry. 

Kyungsoo collects as much of Jongin’s stuff as he can and stuffs them into a box Sehun hesitantly gave him. 

The elder walks out of the bedroom and into the living space. He hesitates in asking Sehun, but he needed to know what happened between the two of them. 

“Jongin told me you were texting this guy— Johnny? Who was he?” Kyungsoo asks as he places the box on the floor. 

“He’s a co-worker,”

“Then why would Jongin think you were cheating on him?”

Sehun hands his phone to Kyungsoo and says, “He thought the texts were implying that we were sleeping together,”

“But?”

“But we weren’t. Johnny’s a new recruit at the company and my boss told me to look after him, so I did,”

Kyungsoo unlocks the phone using Jongin’s birthday and goes to the messaging app.

“Then what does he mean by _‘_ going too hard on him’?”

“We had a sports event at the company, we were on opposing teams and it was his first time in a relay race, so I told him because it was his first time—”

“You’d go easy on him,” Kyungsoo finishes. 

“You referred to a ‘him’ a lot. Who are you talking about?”

“Johnny has this mini poodle named Monsieur. He brings him to work from time to time because his roommate’s usually out of the house and he can’t just leave the dog home alone. And since he’s the boss’ secretary, he has to run a lot of errands, so on the days he has a very full schedule he leaves the dog with me,” 

Kyungsoo sits there and looks at Sehun. He squints his eyes, “Then why were you acting all distant with Jongin if you weren’t cheating?” Kyungsoo asks

Sehun takes a deep breath and looks at the elder, “It was supposed to be a surprise, but—”

Sehun hands an envelope that was on one of the side tables to Kyungsoo. The elder gives Sehun a curious look but Sehun merely nods to the other. Kyungsoo slowly opens the envelope and reads it’s contents. 

_Hey love!_

_So, I know it’s our anniversary and I’m sorry I’m not home._

_But don’t think I forgot! I have a scavenger hunt for you._

_The first clue is at the back of this note_

_Also, this is going to be quite a drive so I graciously prepared a playlist for you so that you won’t get bored on the way._

_Hope you enjoy it, love!_

Kyungsoo promptly turns the small card and finds a riddle. “So, what does this mean?” he asks. Sehun sighs, “The hunt was supposed to lead him to the playground where we first met, and on the swing, this note would be there,” he says handing another envelope to Kyungsoo. 

_I hope you put that playlist to good use!_

_Because now it’s your last clue_

_Read the first letters of each song in order!_

_Happy Anniversary, love!_

Kyungsoo looks up at Sehun who was holding up his phone to Kyungsoo. It was the playlist. 

_‘[Jongin](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/48nKlm8MDs9CA20EsKrQ6r?si=j0pt6aKKTleMutoqNb-8rg),’ _ it said. 

The elder takes the phone and goes on to read the first letters of the songs. His head shoots up to look at Sehun wide-eyed. 

“Oh my god, Sehun. You—”

The younger who had his head hung low was sniffling. He wipes the tears that were threatening to fall and he looks up at Kyungsoo. 

“You were gonna propose?”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn that ending tho...
> 
> But I just realized, I keep posting stuff pretty late... whatever. 
> 
> I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was like "It's already 3 am, I should sleep early," (yes, that's early). "So... I'll just post it tomorrow and go over it, then realize I didn't finish a whole ass sentence because guess who believes that her best ideas come when it's really really late (✋🏼this bitch)? And then edit it even though people have already read it and realize that there's more to fix than anticipated? (✋🏼 still this bitch)". 
> 
> Yes, this is how my brain works, but today I decided to spice things up a bit because honestly, this is the only thing I can be bothered to change right now. So instead of the latter part of my inner thoughts, I decided to just wait and revise before posting. (What a smart choice, for the first time in ages). 
> 
> Also, I know, I know. This chapter is far from my best work. And that argument scene, oh god. 
> 
> If you've read my other works, I'm usually a sucker for some very intense fluff. And as much as I enjoy reading angst from time to time (because your girl's in the mood to cry now and then), I haven't fully grasped how to write a fic with some decent angst, but I guess this is my first proper try. 
> 
> In all honesty, though, I'm not entirely sure if that argument was reasonable or not... But it took me 3 days to figure out how the argument would go about and that's all I could come up with. So I guess I'm going with it. If it's very unrealistic, I know but let's just pretend that's what I was going for (lol, laziness at it's finest ladies and gents!). 
> 
> Now onto my real life spiel. Since this chapter was pretty angsty, let's match my quick storytime with it. 
> 
> I FaceTimed my siblings, who both live in Hong Kong for work, recently (by recently, it was probably a week ago, but how would I know), and my dad suddenly brings up that I got good grades— again... And for some reason, I didn't want them to know. 
> 
> I mean don't get me wrong I worked hard for them and I'm extremely thankful that I got better results than I initially expected. But I don't know, I guess I didn't want them to know because I knew that if they found out that I could in fact, get good grades, then they'd expect nothing less from me. 
> 
> Which just adds another level of pressure on myself to do better. And I know that if I don't do as well as before, then it becomes another thing to beat down my self-esteem with. And it didn't help that my mom seemed very unimpressed with my final grades which just cemented my unwillingness to tell anyone of my accomplishments. 
> 
> I probably shouldn't put my inner problems out on the internet for people to read, but as I have prefaced in previous notes, I don't have physical people to rant to right now so I guess this will be my outlet for that stuff. 
> 
> (Also, just to let you know, I'm fine, really. That thing's just been sitting on my chest for a few days now. And I just wanted to let it out. But again, in case someone out there was worried, I'm good, really ☺️)
> 
> As much as I would want to put a "But on a lighter note," thing right about now, I don't have anything else to say so... As always I hope you enjoyed the fic and my short and (maybe slightly) angsty note!


	4. Make You Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sehun and Jongin try to talk things out.

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Jongin stares at Kyungsoo the same way Kyungsoo stared at Sehun months ago. In complete and utter disbelief and shock. “Oh my god,” Jongin mutters. “I fucked up worse than I thought,” Jongin says. 

“I gotta look for him!” he exclaims. As if he wasn’t just sulking literally 5 seconds ago. 

Jongin gets up from his seat and jogs hastily to the bedroom to grab his things. “What?” Kyungsoo says in disbelief, his mouth still full of food. “I need to look for him and fix this!” Jongin yells from the bedroom. 

“Jongin, you don’t even know where he is! And he doesn’t have his phone with him! He could be anywhere!” Kyungsoo says. “Well, I can’t just sit here and wait! I gotta find him!” the younger says coming out of the hallway and into the living area. 

Jongin stuffed his keys and wallet into his jeans. He grabs both his and Sehun’s phone before bolting for another room. Kyungsoo was busy slurping down his (very) delicious soup as he watched the younger go into a frenzy. He was running from room to room grabbing the things he deemed necessary. 

Suddenly, Jongin ran to the door wearing his converse like slippers and was out of the door. 

Kyungsoo sits there in silence for a few seconds, finishes his soup, and sighs heavily. “I swear to god these kids,” he mumbles exasperatedly, before following the younger because he knows that Jongin will probably do something very stupid. 

Kyungsoo catches up to Jongin who was, at the moment, very aggressively pushing the down button for the elevator. “This thing’s taking so long!” Jongin whines. He stomps his foot like a child. 

“Hyung! The elevator hates me!” he sulks as Kyungsoo locks the apartment door behind him. “Calm down, it’s coming,” he says as he sauntered down the hallway to meet Jongin in the elevator that he just ran into before the doors could open fully. 

“Ok, Jongin I get that you wanna hash things out but, as I said earlier, you don’t even know where the hell he is!” Kyungsoo points out. 

They walk out into the parking garage and Jongin stills for a minute. Jongin’s eyes darted somewhere else before his face lights up. He whips out Sehun’s phone and unlocks the thing. “Sehun’s car can be tracked by this app on his phone!” he says excitedly. 

Kyungsoo peaks over Jongin’s arm. He has to tiptoe a bit due to their height difference. “Where’s he going?” the elder asks. “Not sure yet, but I have an idea,” he says. “Give me your keys,” He says holding out his hand in front of Kyungsoo. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks, eyes darting from Jongin’s face to his hands.

“I’m gonna follow Sehun,” Jongin says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Yeah, you already told me that, I mean why do you need my car?”

“I need to drive to him!”

“Take the bus,” Kyungsoo quips with a tired look on his face. 

Jongin’s shoulders sag as he looks at Kyungsoo with a pointed look. The elder rolls his eyes, “Where are we going?” Kyungsoo asks walking to where his car was parked. 

“We?” Jongin stops in his tracks to stare at him. “It’s my damn car! I’m coming with,” Kyungsoo argues as they walk to where Kyungsoo was parked. The elder unlocks his car and opens the door to the driver’s seat, “Fine. We’re going to Suncheon,” Jongin answers. 

“Suncheon?! That’s 3 fucking hours away!” 

“I know! That’s why I was saying you don’t have to come!” Jongin says, reaching out for the car keys. 

Kyungsoo backs his hand away from Jongin’s as he clutches onto his keys. “No! I’m not leaving my car with you!” Kyungsoo retorts.

Jongin scoffs in disbelief, “Why not?”.

Kyungsoo mocks his scoff, “Remember what happened last time you were in one alone? I don’t want to get a call later saying my car’s been demolished by some weirdo who says he needs to see his boyfriend in Suncheon at 12 am,” Kyungsoo says. 

“Fine, fine. We don’t have time for this, let’s go!” Jongin says, pushing Kyungsoo to his car. 

“You’re paying for gas,” the elder snips. 

“Whatever,” Jongin mumbles. 

  
  


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Sehun stared at the road as he drove to Suncheon, he was over half-way there. The whole drive was dead silent, and Sehun preferred it that way. He needed time to think about everything. One of those things was figuring out whether storming out of the apartment was a smart decision or not, amongst other things. But one thing he knew for sure was, he needed to let out some steam. 

He didn’t know why Suncheon was the first place that came to mind when he started his car, but he didn’t bother to fight his urge to go back to his, their, hometown. 

He pulls into a parking space near the park and locks his car. As he’s walking he realizes that he didn’t have his phone nor his wallet, which was probably a very stupid mistake, but he just sighed and kept on walking. 

The cold air seeped into his clothes and hit his already shivering and goose-bump covered skin. He walks to the playground with his hands shoved in his pockets and the hood of his hoodie over his head. 

He makes it to the playground and goes to sit on the swings, he sits in silence as he lets the wind surround him and his thoughts consume his senses. 

_ ‘Why didn’t I stay and talk to him?’  _

_ ‘I’m so stupid, I shouldn’t have yelled at him,’ _

_ ‘Why did I have to open my mouth?’ _

_ ‘I’m such an idiot’ _

_ ‘And I made him cry.’  _

_ ‘I made Jongin cry. I’m the worst,’ _

_ ‘What the hell do I do now?’ _

Sehun buries his head in his hands and begins to weep. Hot tears drip from his watery eyes and fall onto his ice-cold hands. 

  
  


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Kyungsoo drives to the address Jongin inputted into the GPS. All throughout the drive, Jongin never took his eyes off of Sehun’s phone. The streets were mostly empty but they weren’t even halfway there yet. This wasn’t the first time Kyungsoo had done major favors for either Jongin or Sehun. But he knew that if he were in the same situation, both men would do the same for him. 

Kyungsoo had been friends with Jongin and Sehun ever since high school when he transferred from the Gyeonggi Province to Suncheon in the 10th grade. 

At the time, neither Jongin nor Sehun had gone through their quote-unquote, “glow-up” yet, and they were still going through their awkward puberty stage, high-pitched voice cracks and all. 

One day, they saw this new kid eating alone and felt bad for him so the pair decided to join him. Although the two childhood friends found Kyungsoo to be rather intimidating at first glance— it didn’t help that Kyungsoo constantly stared at people as if he were angry at them and scarcely smiled— they found him very funny and a lot of fun to be around.

After a good month of wearing Kyungsoo down with their, for the lack of a better term, stupid antics. Kyungsoo finally began to consider the pair as his friends. In the 11th grade, they finally began to grow out of puberty and finally had their growth spurts and their voices began to sound low and deep. And just like that, the three of them suddenly became the hot topic of their high school. Each of them having their own nicknames given to them by the student body. Funnily enough, this occurrence had followed them until their college days. 

Ever since their first meeting, the three have all been joined at the hip and they’ve continued to be as such. When Jongin and Sehun finally started dating, in part because Kyungsoo helped them both realize their feelings, it didn’t affect their friendship in the slightest. If anything according to Kyungsoo, “I’ll finally have my peace and quiet, go fuck all you want, I give you my full blessing,”. And just like that, Kyungsoo became their #1 supporter, relationship counselor, shoulder to cry on after arguments, the guy who reminded them that they did, in fact, love each other after arguments, you name it, Kyungsoo was all of it. 

Even after the break-up, Kyungsoo remained friends with both Jongin and Sehun. Although he saw more of Jongin than of Sehun during that time, the youngest of the three knew that Kyungsoo was still there for him if Sehun needed him. 

“So, why Suncheon exactly?” Kyungsoo asks when they stop at a stop sign. He looks over at Jongin who finally sets Sehun’s phone down. 

“I have a strong feeling he’s going back to the playground,” Jongin answers, looking at Kyungsoo. 

The elder furrows his brows and adjusts his glasses that were perched on his nose bridge. “You mean the place where he was supposed to propose? Why would he go there?” he asks. “I don’t know, but he’s parked somewhere nearby there so I’m guessing that’s where he went,” Jongin says.

The traffic light turns green and Kyungsoo drives down the lonely road. As the GPS tells him how many meters left before his next turn, Kyungsoo says, “I swear you both owe me so much,”.

Jongin whips his head to look at Kyungsoo in disbelief, “For what?!” he exclaims. The elder glances at Jongin, “Do you really wanna tug at that thread?” he says in slight annoyance. 

Jongin rolls his eyes playfully, “Put it on my tab,” he jokes. “Joint or personal?” Kyungsoo asks. “That’s a thing?” Jongin questions, “I made it a thing after you two told me to cover for the two of you when you skipped class in the 10th grade,” the elder says. Jongin laughs. “So, I think you can tell it’s a pretty long list,” Kyungsoo continues. 

“I’ll pay you back,” Jongin assures. 

Kyungsoo scoffs. “How?”

“I’ll buy you that stove you were staring at in the store that one time,”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he glances at Jongin, “You mean the 30 inch Gas Cooktop in Stainless Steel from  _ Samsung _ ?” he says excitedly. The younger merely hums, “I’ll even pay for the installation fee,” Jongin says. 

Kyungsoo purses his lips, “I also want a new toaster,” he says quickly,

“Deal,”

Kyungsoo’s mood immediately turned from utter annoyance to less annoyed and a little bit excited. He grins happily at the prospect of a new stove and toaster as he continues to steer the car according to the voice directing him. 

  
  


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Kyungsoo pulls over at their destination and Jongin hurriedly unclasps his seatbelt. “Thanks, Hyung,” he says as he opens the car door. “Good luck,” Kyungsoo smiles before Jongin shuts the car door again. 

Jongin rubs his palms together to warm himself up. It was chilly out and he was only wearing a thin cotton shirt and jeans. But he pays no attention to his shivering and looks for Sehun. 

It was a big park and the playground was around the back portion of it. Although he was getting majorly creeped out. The wind howling, the trees rustling, and the silence, all added to how eerie everything felt, but he walked on.  _ ‘I need to talk to Sehun,’ _ he repeated like a mantra in his head as he wrapped his arms around his body to provide some form of warmth from the harsh breeze. Luckily, the streetlamps were left on and provided him decent light as he trudged along the stone path of the park. 

He nears the playground and from where he was, he could see a figure sitting on one of the swings with his back to Jongin. From a distance, Jongin could clearly see his back was straight his head thrown back as if he was listening to the wind. 

He walks closer to the playground, immediately being hit with memories from his childhood. All the times he and Sehun pretended to be pirates, spies, superheroes, and so many other things. The countless good times they had in this place was all flooding back to Jongin. 

He stops a good few meters away from Sehun. He stares at the younger in fondness as a strong gust of wind hits him. He feels shivers run up and down his spine but this time it wasn’t because he was cold. 

He takes a deep breath. “Sehun?” he calls out. The younger visibly jumps and turns the swing to face the elder. Sehun pushes his hood back to fall off his head and onto his shoulders. They stare at each other as their hair and clothes blew in different directions. 

“What are you doing here?” Sehun says with no actual bite to his tone. He slowly stands up from the swing and walks slowly towards Jongin. 

“I remembered another memory,” the elder says, with hope and sadness lingering in his tone. From the look of Jongin’s face, Sehun didn’t need to ask which one he recalled. “Oh,” is all the younger can utter.

They stay quiet for a few seconds, both men unsure of how to proceed with the conversation. 

“Sehun,— I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I should’ve talked to you properly instead of accusing you, but I just—” fiddling with his fingers. Sehun bites his lip, “It’s alright—” the younger answers taking a step towards Jongin. 

“No! No, it’s not! I did it again! I fucked up!—”

“We both did. I shouldn’t have stormed out—”

“You had every right to, I would’ve done the same.— And I did,” Jongin scoffs, “Remember?! I walked out on you! I hurt you!”

Jongin runs his hand through his hair in frustration, “And you’re so amazing, you know that? You had every right to tell me that we broke up, instead, you hid that from me just to protect me and in the process, you turned your life into a huge shit-show because of me.— You could’ve gone on with your life without me ruining it a second time. But you stayed and took care of me, you know why? Because you’re such a damn good person!”

“I hurt someone who loved me so much that he was willing to sacrifice all the time he put into getting over our relationship, only to have it all crumble down because some jackass didn’t know how to drive properly,” Jongin continues, “I can’t even imagine the pain you had to go through. And I’m so sorry, Sehun,— I know you said not to feel guilty, but I can’t help but feel so damn guilty that I hurt  _ the _ best person in my life. I walked out on someone who would go through hell and back just to make me happy and loved me so much that he kept all the pictures and keepsakes of our time together even if he could’ve easily thrown them away,” 

“I walked out on someone who wanted to spend the rest of his life with me,”

They stand in silence for a few seconds just looking at each other. Just looking in the other’s eyes. Jongin had tears welling up in his eyes as Sehun looked at the elder in sorrow. 

“And here I was doubting you, doubting our relationship when you were ready to commit to me. I have nothing else to say except sorry, that you had to go through so much because of me. I’ll understand if you don’t want anything to do with me anymore. I just hope you can forgive me for being such an asshole to you,”

Jongin’s shoulders slouch and he covers his face as he begins to sob. Sehun takes a second before he steps closer to the elder. He puts a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, look at me,” he says. Jongin sniffles before looking up at Sehun. The younger thumbs the tears streaming down Jongin’s face and places one hand on his cheek, he looks into Jongin’s eyes, “I’m sorry, too,” he says. 

Jongin looked surprised as the tears only kept falling. The elder opens his mouth to say something, “You don’t have to say anything else,” Sehun says, cutting Jongin off before he could say anything as he wraps his arms around the elder to engulf him in a warm embrace. 

  
  


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After Jongin finally calmed down, Sehun guides them both to the swings and lets Jongin sit down. 

Jongin swallows and licks his lips, “You know I would’ve said yes, right?” he says. “What?” the younger asks. “To your proposal, I would’ve said yes,” Jongin replies. Sehun looks at him and smiles shyly, “I hoped you would,” he says, walking over to the other swing and sitting on it. 

Jongin purses his lips as he tugs on his clothes, “That thing you said, earlier about not wanting anyone else,” Jongin says, looking straight at Sehun. “— I feel the same way,” he says.

They sit side by side on the swings they used to play on together as children, letting the wind rock them gently. “But as much as I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you, I don’t deserve you, Sehun,” he says.

The younger stares up at Jongin, feeling his cheeks begin to warm up, “Is that how you really think?” he asks, standing up from the swing’s seat. “I’ve hurt you enough, Sehun. You deserve to be with someone who would never do you harm,” he says, standing up to meet Sehun’s eyes. 

Their toes were touching and they could feel the other’s breath hit their skin as the cold wind kept flowing around them. But now, the wind didn’t seem that cold anymore, not when their bodies were mere centimeters apart. 

“So if I said that I wanted to give us another shot, you’d say no and tell me to find someone else?” Sehun asks. 

Jongin remains quiet, debating whether to say yes or no. If he said yes, then there’s the chance that he’d lose Sehun, but if he says no, then he’s a selfish hypocrite.

“How about I make this easier for you,” Sehun says. “I’m gonna stand over there by the entrance of the playground, and I’m gonna count to 20. If you’re there, then we can work this out together and try again. If you aren’t there, then I’ll take your advice, and find someone else,”

Jongin stares at the younger, but before he could say anything, Sehun had already turned around to walk to the playground’s entrance. The elder had stood there for a good second before finally making up his mind. 

Sehun wasn’t even halfway to the entrance when Jongin grabbed Sehun’s wrist and turned him around. He wastes no time in taking Sehun’s cheeks into his cold hands and plants his lips on the other’s lips. Their noses and cheeks brush against each other as they kiss. Jongin moves his hand from Sehun’s cheek to cup the younger’s neck and moved his lips firmly against Sehun’s. 

The kiss was passionate and raw with emotion as the elder takes Sehun’s lower lip and sucks on it gently before engulfing Sehun’s lips with his. Sehun makes a noise that resembles a whimper. His knees buckle as he wraps his arms around Jongin’s neck to pull him closer. Sehun’s hands somehow make their way to the elder’s soft hair and he tugs on a fistful of it making Jongin groan. The elder’s hands slide from Sehun’s neck to his torso to press their bodies together. Before long, Jongin ran his tongue over the seam of Sehun’s lips and the younger immediately granted him access. 

Their hearts beat together as if they were in perfect synchronization as the butterflies in their stomachs ran rampant. And they kissed, holding each other as if their lives depended on it, in the middle of a playground at nearly 4 in the morning. 

Jongin reluctantly pulled his lips away from Sehun’s and rests their foreheads together with their noses touching. He smiles softly, “You don’t have to wait for me to run after you anymore,” he says, “because I’ll run so fast, you wouldn’t even need to wait,” Jongin continues. 

Sehun connects their lips again for a chaste peck, “I love you,” he blurts. Jongin smiles even wider than before, “I love you, too,” he says, feeling his body tinge in happiness. 

“Let’s not fuck up this time, alright?” Sehun says, running his fingers through Jongin’s hair. The elder chuckles, “We’ll work through it together, like always,” Jongin replies, before pulling the younger down for another soft kiss. 

Their lips barely even touch when they were interrupted by a loud car horn honking. They jump in their warm embrace and look to where the sound had come from. 

It was Kyungsoo, in his car. “Glad to see you two are fine now,” he says. The couple smile as they part from each other to walk closer to the car. They were separated by a tall fence from the main road, but they were close enough to hear Kyungsoo. 

“We’re great, thanks Hyung,” Jongin says. Kyungsoo smiles at the pair, “Alright then, I’m gonna go home because some of us actually have jobs and I have served my purpose,” Kyungsoo says, “Drive safe, Hyung,” Sehun says, wrapping an arm around Jongin’s waist and pulling him closer. “I will, unlike some people I actually know how to drive properly,”

“Wha—!” Jongin exclaims, scandalized. “I should get going. And don’t forget! You owe me a new stove  _ and _ a toaster for my services!” Kyungsoo says, before closing his car window and driving off into the distance. 

“We’re buying him a stove and a toaster?” Sehun asks, looking at Jongin, confused. “My debts to Kyungsoo are getting extensive,” Jongin says as if it were nothing. He walks back over to the front of the playground while Sehun runs after him to ask some follow-up questions about these so-called  _ debts _ . 

  
  


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The sky was getting lighter when they finally decided to head home. They walked down the stone path to the entrance of the park with their hands held tightly. 

“Can we get food on the way back?” Sehun asks as he swings his and Jongin’s intertwined hands. “Yeah, sure,” the elder says. 

They both slow their pace as if they were thinking the same thought. Jongin gave Sehun the side-eye, “The last one to the car has to pay!” Jongin exclaims before letting go of Sehun’s hand to bolt to the car. Sehun sputters but doesn’t waste any time catching up to Jongin. 

Sehun grabs Jongin’s waist and lifts him up. They laugh as Jongin struggles to get out of Sehun’s hold. “Put me down!” Jongin laughs as he kicks his feet in the air. “No. I don’t wanna let you go,” Sehun says with a smile on his face, refusing to set Jongin down. “I’ll hold you to that,” Jongin says smiling down at Sehun, as he leans in to kiss the younger. 

Sehun slowly puts Jongin down but he doesn’t break their kiss. Jongin turns around to wrap his arms around Sehun, but the younger pulls away and smiles at the elder with a cheeky smile. He pecks Jongin’s lips before bolting for his car. 

“Cheater!” the elder exclaims as he runs after Sehun, and he nears the car when he sees Sehun standing a few feet away from it, looking back at him.  _ ‘Is he waiting for me?’ _ Jongin thinks and smiles. As if on cue, “Hurry up!” Sehun calls out, “You said I wouldn’t have to wait!” He continues. Jongin smiles and runs over to Sehun. 

He clutches Sehun’s hoodie and leans in to kiss the younger once again. They walk the rest of the way to the car and Sehun lets Jongin go in first. 

They drive to the nearby diner and grab a quick bite to eat. Fortunately, the old owner still worked there and even recognized the couple when they walked into the establishment. And they reminisce and laugh at old memories from their high school days as they ate their food. 

And just like that, genuine happiness had made its way into both their lives again. And although they still had much to work on, (like their trust issues, communication skills, and transparency,) nevertheless, they were happy, optimistic, and in love. And that was all they needed. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh, finally the fluff and relationship development begins. 
> 
> I seriously had such a hard time writing this chapter, and I was so worried that their conversation wouldn't make sense and wouldn't be very consistent with their situation thus far. But this is what I came up with so I hope you still enjoyed it. 
> 
> I talked to my friend who read the fic for the first time and she was so nice about it even though I'm pretty sure that the argument wasn't very realistic. 
> 
> Anyways you don't need to fret anymore, the fluff (aka the genre I can somewhat be more confident in writing about) finally begins in the next and final chapter. And since it is the last chapter, I promise to make the fluff worthwhile. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this fic, and thank you so much for all the support! And I'm sure you've heard this so many times now, but remember to stay safe and just as a favor please sign these petitions, it only takes a few minutes of your time and it can help those in need and fight for what's right. 
> 
> [#JunkTerrorBill](http://chng.it/dwshHMNjkf)  
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> 
> I know there are a lot, but these are things happening in the world right now, and if you aren't fully aware of any of these, then I suggest you do a bit of research because these things aren't just trends, there are people's lives at stake and there are people who are suffering. I'm probably very late to sharing this, but better late than never.


	5. Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SeKai settles back into their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took some time lol, anyways I hope you enjoy it!

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The drive back home was quiet but comfortable, Sehun had dozed off as Jongin drove them back. At a stoplight, Jongin took the time to look at Sehun’s cute sleeping face. The younger’s mouth was slightly parted as his head rested against the headrest. He smiles brighter as he doesn’t take his eyes off of the sleeping man sitting next to him. He notices the morning rays of the sun hitting Sehun’s face and since Jongin didn’t want the younger to wake up so soon, he leans over and lowers the visor and settles back into his seat in time for the stoplight to turn green. 

Jongin pulls into the parking lot of the apartment complex and turns the car off. He turns to Sehun as he’s unbuckling his seatbelt and gently nudges the younger, “Sehun, we’re home,” he says, unbuckling Sehun’s seatbelt and leaning over to his side to take it off of the younger carefully. 

Sehun shifts in his sleep and whines when Jongin continues to shake him gently. “5 more minutes,” Sehun mumbles. 

Jongin sighs and gets out of the car, he walks to Sehun’s side of the car and opens the door. He puts his arm underneath Sehun’s legs and the other behind his back and carries the younger bridal style. Thankfully his casts were taken off around a month ago so the task was slightly easier. 

Sehun sleeps soundly in Jongin’s arms, while Jongin struggled to lock the car. He finally does, after much hardship. And then they get to the elevators, _‘How the hell am I gonna do this?’_. Jongin begins to rethink his options, _‘either I wake Sehun up, or I struggle to press the elevator buttons like an idiot’_. 

He opts for the latter option when his eyes land on the sleeping Sehun in his arms. He didn’t want to wake the peaceful man. He manages to press the elevator buttons with some contorting and he successfully opens the apartment door as well. 

He shuffles into the apartment and settles Sehun on the bed. He slowly takes Sehun’s shoes off and shifts Sehun’s body on the bed so that the younger is lying down comfortably. He’s about to go and put the stuff in his hands back where they belong when Sehun reaches out to grab Jongin’s wrist. 

“You’re not gonna sleep with me?” Sehun mumbles with his heavy eyelids half-closed. Jongin rests his weight on one leg, “You were awake the whole time, weren’t you?” Jongin asks pointedly. “Maybe,” Sehun teases, cracking one eye open. “You ass,” Jongin chuckles. 

He quickly runs and tosses the shoes on the floor before running back and launching himself on the bed to land on Sehun. 

The Sehun groans when Jongin makes contact with him and wraps his arms around Jongin’s neck to nuzzle his face into the crown of Jongin’s head to leave soft kisses. “Good night,” Sehun mumbles, making Jongin smile into Sehun’s chest. He throws his arm over Sehun’s waist and hugs the younger. 

“It’s 7 am,” Jongin replies, tilting his head up to kiss Sehun’s jaw. “Good morning, then,” is all Sehun says. before long they end up falling asleep, limbs tangled together while Jongin’s head is tucked under Sehun’s chin. 

  
  


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“You know, I just remembered something. And I can’t help but think it’s so stupid,” Jongin says. It’s a few hours since they woke up from their nap, they’re well into the afternoon now, and they’re just sitting on the couch in their pajamas. “What?” Sehun asks, “Wait—” Jongin mumbles as he gets up and jogs to another room. He comes back with something in both hands, 

“You know how we usually have this weird thing where we think of the same thing at the same time?” he asks as he stands in front of Sehun. 

They found out about this ability very early on into their friendship, it was almost like the pair could read each other’s minds and the skill was always something people found either impressive or just plain scary, there was never an in-between. Sehun and Jongin always seemed to be on the same wavelength on most if not everything. 

The younger nods and hums in agreement as he puts all his attention on Jongin. “Well,” Jongin stops and opens both his hands to reveal two rings. One of them was the ring Sehun was going to use to propose and the other, he didn’t recognize. But it didn’t take him long to figure out what had happened. 

Sehun lets out a breathy laugh as he covers his mouth with his hand. He rests his elbow on his knee. “You were gonna propose, too?” Sehun asks, muffled by his hand. “It’s scary how we think alike,” Jongin jokes. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sehun asks, “I guess it slipped my mind. My mom gave it to me a few months before we broke up, I just forgot I had it,” Jongin says. 

Sehun stands up and looks at the rings in Jongin’s hands, “So, what now?” Sehun asks. He takes the ring Jongin was going to give him and examines it. 

“I don’t think either of us wants to propose right now,” Jongin takes a guess, and Sehun nods, “I think we should work on strengthening what we have first before we dive into anything,” Sehun says in agreement, placing the ring back into Jongin’s palm. 

“So, what do we do?” the elder continues. Sehun shifts his focus on something else before his eyebrows raise as if he had just thought of something, which he did. 

“What if we make it a game?” he suggests. Jongin squints, obviously intrigued by his suggestion, “Go on,”.

“Um— You hide your ring and I’ll hide mine, and the first one to find the other ring proposes. You don’t have to go hunting for it. Just go about our lives, and if one day either one of us stumbles upon the other ring, then we can take that as a ‘go’ signal,” Sehun says. 

“What is it with you and scavenger hunts?” Jongin jokes, “Do you have a better idea?” Sehun quips. Jongin merely snorts as he fiddles with the rings in his hand. 

“Is the hiding spot only limited to this apartment?” Jongin asks. Sehun thinks, “No, that’d be too easy. I guess we can hide them somewhere else too, but not random ass places like some bathroom somewhere, but places we go to regularly together,” Sehun explains. Jongin nods, “Alright, you’re on,” Jongin says as he hands Sehun his ring. 

“But if you find the ring, you can’t use your old idea anymore,” Jongin says. Sehun looks at him incredulously, “Ugh, fine,” he complains. 

“Good luck if you find it, though. It’ll be hard to beat my old idea,” Sehun says. Jongin scoffs, “Please, I can think of something exponentially better,” Jongin boasts. Sehun looks at the elder with his eyebrows raised, “And that’s coming from the guy who forgot he had a ring in the first place,” he quips. Before going into another room to do something he needed to do. 

  
  


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It’s been nearly two years since Jongin and Sehun hid their rings. And in those two years, they’ve settled back into their old relationship, which has become stronger than ever. Except now, they have the added thrill of who was going to propose first. 

Jongin was driving to the rec center he usually taught dance at on the weekends. He used Sehun’s car today since the elder’s car was currently in the shop for some minor repair. He was nearing the rec center when disaster struck. He makes a pretty sharp turn to park, resulting in a liquid being spilled all over the passenger seat. 

“Shit,” Jongin curses. His latte had spilled.

He frantically opens the glove compartment and pushes things around to find their emergency pack of wet wipes, they usually keep 2 or 3 packs in the car because sometimes they get experimental (you can interpret that statement however you like). He grabs the half-used wet wipes from the compartment and begins to wipe up the beverage off of the seat. 

Once he finished cleaning the seat as much he could, he runs out to throw the used wet wipes in the bin and jogs back to the car to put things back in order, _‘I should get this cleaned properly,’_ Jongin thinks as he stuffs the wet-wipes back into the glove compartment. He grabs the things he pushed out of the way that fell on the floor and puts them back neatly in the compartment. 

He pauses when he picks up a small, familiar-looking box on the car’s floor. _‘This was his best hiding spot?’_ Jongin thinks. Just to make sure he opens the box open and just as he expected, it was the ring. 

Jongin bites his lip to contain his happiness. It was bound to happen at some point and fortunately for Jongin, who was beginning to look for the ring once they hit their 1-year mark of what they called their “restoration period”, it was finally happening. He grins as he puts the ring in his training bag and begins to think of possible ways to go about his proposal. 

  
  


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Around a week later, Sehun was over at Kyungsoo’s place for lunch because the elder told him he just tried a new recipe that he wanted the younger to try. Jongin was at the rec center as per usual since it was Saturday and Sehun felt pretty lonely at their apartment. 

He brought his and Jongin’s new addition to their small family, a Bichon-Frise named Vivi, to Kyungsoo’s apartment and Kyungsoo was beyond happy that his own dogs, Pepper, and Ink, finally had a new playmate. 

The puppy was poking around Kyungsoo’s new apartment. The elder had just moved in a month ago and it was the first time Vivi was exploring the place. The puppy wanders into Kyungsoo’s office and pads through little nooks and crannies in search of a chew-toy. 

After Sehun and Kyungsoo have lunch, Sehun searches for Vivi and finds him sniffing around in the elder’s study. He called out for the puppy but the dog seemed preoccupied with something. His tail was facing Sehun, so the man couldn’t see what he was currently gnawing at.

He walks over to Vivi and picks him up, “What were you playing with, huh?” Sehun asks the dog, and he looks down at the ‘toy’ on the floor. Sehun bends down to grab it and takes it into his hand. It was a box, the box, 

_‘This was the best he could do?’_ Sehun thinks as he laughs to himself. “Your other daddy doesn’t have very good hiding skills,” he says to Vivi who was busy staring at the box in Sehun’s hand. 

  
  


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_*clink clink clink_

The sound of the best man gently tapping his fork against his champagne flute reverberates around the wedding hall. The guests quiet down to listen to the speeches, turning in their seats to direct their attention to the man standing next to the groom. 

The best man clears his throat before proceeding to speak. “Hello, everyone. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m the best man to the very very lucky groom sitting next to me. Actually, I’ve been friends with both the groom and the bride for some time now, so be prepared for some very funny stories about our beloved Do Kyungsoo and his beautiful wife Nam Jihyun,” he says into the mic. 

“I’ll keep this short because one, I’m sure you all are excited to get to dancing and burn off that delicious dinner, which, by the way, I helped pick. And two, I _really_ need to go to the bathroom,” The best man pauses to let the soft laughter from the audience die out before continuing.

“Anyone who’s known Kyungsoo for a long time knows that he has two best friends, myself…And this very handsome-looking man sitting next to me—” resting his hand on the shoulder of said man, “who by the way is _not_ single, in case there was anyone interested, which in that case, there shouldn’t be,” he says in a lightheartedly stern manner as he looks over to the tables. Laughter erupts from the crowd as Sehun smiles down at Jongin who promptly looks up at the younger. He smiles back proudly at the man as if he were saying _‘you’re doing great sweetie’_. 

“Now, I know you’re wondering, how could Kyungsoo possibly have chosen between two equally qualified friends, both of whom are in a _very_ happy relationship, might I add,—” glancing back at the people who had tried to hit on Jongin early into the ceremony, as the laughter starts back up again, “— to be his best man?”

He pauses, “Well, he didn’t— we flipped a coin and I won,” An even louder roar of laughter comes from the crowd as Kyungsoo slowly covers his face with his hand to shield his flustered face from the view of his guests. 

The funny speech went on with the audience laughing with gusto at the playful jabs Sehun took at the groom and his many childhood memories with him. He closed it off, finally raising his glass and the guests followed suit, and toasted to the newly married couple.

  
  


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Then came time for the bouquet toss. Single women all flocked to the bride as she laughed at their eagerness. Kyungsoo and the groomsmen watched on as the guests clamored to get closer to the bride for a chance to catch the flowers. Jihyun turned her back to the guests and locked eyes with her husband. She smiled warmly at Kyungsoo before closing her eyes and tossing the bouquet. 

Only the bundle of flowers didn’t fly towards the crowd as planned. Actually, it slipped out of the bride’s hand while she was trying to build up momentum for the bouquet to fly further, however, instead of flying to the clamoring guests, it falls into the lap of one of the groomsmen. Widened eyes and dropped jaws were seen all around the room but no one was as surprised as the man himself.

Jihyun does her best to stifle her laughter when she opens her eyes to see Kyungsoo and Jongin’s reaction to the bouquet. Sehun stared down at the flowers on his lap as the whole room goes silent. 

He cracks a grin, raising the bundle of flowers and pointing to Jongin, saying, “He’s _definitely_ not single,”. The room quickly fills up with laughter once again as some of the girls in the audience reluctantly return to their seats. 

Kyungsoo gently slaps Sehun’s shoulder chuckling at the younger’s remark, but Sehun was too focused on Jongin to pay any attention to his friend’s praises. 

  
  


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The black limousine drove away with the married couple as the onlookers cheered until they were out of sight. After the goodbye’s and good night’s, Sehun, still holding on to his bouquet, scanned the area for his boyfriend. 

“Hey,” a voice says from behind him, effectively startling the best man. “I got you the last one,” Jongin says handing him the champagne flute. 

Sehun graciously takes the glass and hands Jongin the bouquet in return, “For you,— I picked it out myself,” he jokes. 

They walk hand in hand around the garden in comfortable silence before they stop to sit on a bench near the large lake. “It was a great wedding, wasn’t it?” Jongin starts, “Yeah, it was,” Sehun replies, staring out at the moon reflecting in the lake. 

“You were jealous earlier, weren’t you?” the elder teases, nudging Sehun’s shoulder with his own. “You can’t blame me, I noticed more than a few wandering eyes looking at you. I just wanted to make it clear that you weren’t up for grabs,” Sehun says, “Well, you made your point,— especially with that last thing you said,” Jongin says, staring down at the bouquet. 

They sigh contentedly, “When do you think we’ll have one of our own?” Jongin asks, looking back at the building and seeing the train of people retreating to their cars after a long night of partying before looking at Sehun. “I should hope soon, that bouquet didn’t land on my lap for nothing,”

Jongin laughs breathily, looking down at the bouquet. He was staring at one of the flowers until something shiny caught his eye. He scrunched his brows as his hand gravitated to the area where the speck of light came from. 

It was his ring, around the stem of one of the flowers, shining back at him. 

Jongin’s breathing hitches as he plucks the ring off the flower, “You found my hiding spot,” he says. He then looks at Sehun, who was already staring intently at him. “Well, it wasn’t a very good hiding spot, I’ll tell you that,” the younger says mirthfully, lifting the champagne flute to his lips as Jongin continued to stare at his boyfriend, a soft smile gracing his face.

Suddenly, Sehun halts in his actions and a burst of giggles escapes his lips. “Evidently,— neither was mine,” he says, staring into his glass, at the ring sitting on the bottom of it. “It’s scary how we think alike,” he says as he looks at Jongin, “You really didn’t think this through, though. How do you think I’m gonna get this ring outta there now?” Sehun teases. 

“Just chug it,” Jongin says. Sehun glances at his boyfriend, mumbling, “Could’ve put it in the cake or something,”. “And have you choke from it?” Jongin asks, as Sehun begins to down the drink. The ring hits his lips and after he’s successfully emptied the glass, Sehun turns to Jongin once again, ring in hand. 

“So, now what?” Jongin asks, looking down at their hands and back up at Sehun’s smiling face. The younger wordlessly leans over and presses his lips gently onto Jongin’s. Their lips massage each other as Jongin’s hand comes up to cup Sehun’s cheek. 

At that moment, Jongin didn’t need anything else but Sehun. There was nowhere else he’d rather be but on this bench with the one man who could make his heart pound in his chest this erratically. There was no one else he’d rather spend the rest of his life with. And the way Sehun was kissing Jongin, was enough to show that he felt the same way. 

They smiled stupidly at each other once they parted, “We’re engaged,” Jongin whispers, unable to wipe the growing smile on his face. “Wait,” Sehun grabs Jongin’s hand and slips the ring on his finger, the elder follows suit, taking Sehun’s hand and placing the ring on his finger. “ _Now_ we’re engaged,” Sehun corrects. 

“After everything we’ve been through, our engagement is probably the most anticlimactic thing we’ve done,” Jongin remarks, chuckling softly. “Eh, we can always make up for it at the wedding,” Sehun says, leaning back in to capture Jongin’s thick, plush lips against his own. 

If time had stopped, neither Jongin nor Sehun would notice. And even if they did, they were much too enamored by each other to care. 

“I have a question,” Sehun says, pulling away from Jongin’s lips, “Is consummating an engagement a thing?” he asks, making Jongin chuckle, “I don’t think so… but we can make it a thing,” he answers, “Good, now c’mon, let’s get out of here,” Sehun says, holding out his hand for Jongin to take. 

Jongin intertwines their fingers together as he stands up, “Where are we going?” he dares to ask, “I’m going to show you a preview of our honeymoon,” Sehun says, dragging the now cackling Jongin behind him. 

“You’re turned on by this?” Jongin asks, still chuckling at Sehun’s eagerness. The younger suddenly stops and turns to look Jongin straight in the eyes, “Well, you make it easy,” he says, smirking at the elder. Jongin could feel Sehun’s breath on his lips and he shivered at the way Sehun stared at him. But before Jongin got the chance to make any more quips, Sehun had turned his back and led them to wherever he was taking them.

Sehun brought them to the parking lot and hastily brought out his car keys, “Don’t tell me we’re gonna consummate our engagement in your car,” Jongin says as Sehun laughs at the elder’s remark.

  
  


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Jongin giggles at the tickling sensation of Sehun leaving the softest kisses along his neck. His back pressed flush against Sehun’s warm chest. 

“Good morning,” Jongin mumbles, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Morning,” Sehun replies in between kisses. The elder turns to face his husband and smiles lazily before leaning in to leave a soft kiss on his lips. Jongin feels Sehun smile against his lips before he pulls away. 

Sehun snakes his arm around Jongin’s waist and pulls him closer but before he could do anything else, a sharp cry resounds throughout the house. 

“Your turn,” Sehun deadpans, and Jongin groans but automatically gets up pacify the source of the noise. 

“Love you!” Sehun yells out to give Jongin some sort of motivation, “Love you, too!” he hears from the hall. He chuckles and stands up from the bed, cocooning himself in their warm blankets as he follows Jongin to the other room.

Sehun’s eyes land on Jongin cooing at the swaddling baby in his arms. Sehun smiles warmly at the sight and locks eyes with the other. No other words were uttered between them, not that they needed to anyway. The way they looked at each other, the look of love and affection was enough to say everything. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this series even though it took so long for me to finish. I actually had a pretty hard time trying to figure out how to close this fic off (as you've probably guessed by how long you've had to wait for a conclusive ending.. sorry about that by the way😅).
> 
> Just a few things I’d like to clear up, Sehun’s now an author and scriptwriter, he was able to quit his job at the telecommunication company after Jongin gave him a long pep talk about how amazing and capable he is and how he should pursue his interests. Jongin’s still a dance instructor but now he’s working at one of the major ballet institutions in the country. Their daughter, Naeun, was adopted a year into their marriage after Sehun found Jongin cradling the infant in his arms at the orphanage.
> 
> That’s it! Again, I hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I had a hard time writing it! Kudos and comments are always welcome and very much appreciated, thanks again and I hope you have a great day.


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